


Fulfilling the Prophecy

by pook



Category: Star Trek: Voyager
Genre: F/M, Minor Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-08-22
Updated: 2007-08-22
Packaged: 2019-06-14 17:09:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 25,116
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15393459
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pook/pseuds/pook
Summary: A Macguffin leads our valiant crew astray as they return to the AQ.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [audabee](https://archiveofourown.org/users/audabee/gifts).



> For Audabee’s birthday. She who must be obeyed requested/ordered a Hitchcock type Macguffin driven adventure long story/epic thingy.
> 
> Author’s note: A Macguffin is a plot device that motivates the characters and/or advances the story, but has little other relevance to the story.
> 
> Thanks, Elem for the beta.
> 
> Fic101 list #2 prompt #5 beautiful

“Captain Kohlar, come in.” Kathryn stepped aside, ushering the Klingon into her quarters.

Kohlar stepped into the living room and looking around her opulent quarters, he hid his disdain well. To him, the soft furnishings, carpet, and decorations were an anathema. He’d lived for twenty years in a room that had only a metal rack as a bed in it and his only luxury had been a table and a chair. And they had only been his for the last five years since he’d become captain of the Kotar.

He and his crew had only been on Voyager for a week but this small human female had impressed him. She was far from soft and ran a well-organized and disciplined ship. Although initially surprised by T’Greth’s and Morak’s attempt to take over her ship, she and her crew had quickly regained control, subduing the Klingons and beaming them to the brig or to the planet. T’Greth and Morak’s plan had relied on the Klingons of his time thinking that these Federations were weak and feeble. How wrong they had been.

It didn’t matter anymore. Voyager would be leaving in the morning and he would need every one of his crew and all their energies to tame their new home. It would be tough and although they were unlikely to die in combat, it still would be an honourable death and worthy of Klingon warriors. The major focus of his mission was to search for the _kuvah’magh_ and, he had done that for all his life, but now he came to realize it all had been mostly a mistake and a waste of time. Even though he was a Klingon, he was tired, as were most of his crew, and they’d all welcome the respite.

Kohlar held out a small barrel and two metal jugs toward her. “Captain, my crew rescued some vintage blood wine before my ship was destroyed. Would you do me the honour and drink it with me?”

Kathryn couldn’t refuse although she would definitely regret it in the morning. “I’d be honoured.” Kathryn pointed to the chairs and they sat down.

He poured the first round and passed the jug to Kathryn. “Drink! Honoured Warrior!” After saying, in Standard, the traditional first toast when opening a new cask, he was about to drink his but was stopped by his counterpart.

She thought for a moment then smiled, remembering the phrase in Klingon. If she pronounced it incorrectly, there could be a fight if she unwittingly insulted him or his mother. Her Klingon wasn’t that good. “Bax suvwi’ xux!” She tapped her mug against his and sculled the wine.

Kohlar looked at the woman in amazement. She’d said, in perfect Klingon, the toast that he’d just said in Standard then gulped down the wine without even gagging. His admiration for her grew. Smiling, he poured another round.

Kathryn went on to tell the Klingon captain about her six-month tour of duty on the IKS _K’Tehr_ as second officer. She’d barely tolerated gagh and most Klingon foods, but she’d discovered she liked blood wine and, of course, she adored the Klingon coffee, raktajino.

They continued to swap stories, mainly about the battles they had fought. After each round and under the increasing effects of the blood wine they exaggerated their stories more and more. Blood wine had the same affect on Kathryn as it did on Klingons. It made her boisterous and very loud.

Kathryn regretted telling him about her battles with the Borg. Her shoulders were sure to have bruises on them because with every tale, the impressed Kohlar, had punched her there playfully, very hard. There were a few times she’d thought that he might have even dislocated her shoulder, although she had doubts whether she would even feel any pain thanks to the amount of blood wine that she’d drunk.

Kohlar poured yet another round. It would be their last. The keg was now empty. He threw it over his shoulder and laughed as it smashed against the wall, spattering the wall with the last few dregs and sending bits of wooden shrapnel over the carpet. He’d thought that Janeway may have fallen unconscious after the second drink but she had not. She’d kept up with him, round for round. “Are you sure you’re not Klingon, Janeway?” He laughed.

Beyond caring about the mess that they’d made, Kathryn laughed too. “Maybe. Chakotay says sometimes that I have a temper like a Klingon.”

Kohlar playfully punched her in the arm again. “The commander … he is your mate?” He’d seen the way the first officer had looked at her and the barely hidden concern they both had for each other when Morak and T’Greth had tried to take over the ship.

“Yes. What of it?” Kathryn didn’t like his tone. With the wine talking, she reacted angrily and aggressively like a Klingon. She pushed away the table and stood up, puffing out her chest. She was ready to defend their relationship and to challenge Kohlar. She had loved Chakotay for nearly six years but she had fought with herself before realizing that she couldn’t live without him in her life. Although not married in the Klingon sense of the word ‘mate’, they had been together for over four years and she considered herself to be married to him. He was her soul mate, lover, and best friend. She needed him and wanted him. No one was going to question it.

Standing up, Kohlar held up his hands in mock surrender. Janeway was very brave or very drunk. Probably both, he thought as he smiled at her. She was about to challenge him. Her fists were clenched and she was wound up like wounded targ that was ready to strike out to defend herself or her cubs. Even though he was twice her size and armed, she wasn’t intimidated at all. He liked this human a great deal and regretted not having more time to speak with her. He swiped at her arm again and let out a raucous belly laugh.

Kathryn was in no mood but Kohlar continued to laugh. It was very hard to be angry and hit someone who laughing at her and especially when she could barely stand upright.

“Captain, I apologize.” He looked away for a minute remembering K’nad then refocused on Janeway. “My mate, K’nad died last year. I remember the looks you share.” A wave of melancholy washed over Kohlar as he recalled their seventeen years together.

Kathryn calmed down, letting it pass. The Klingon wouldn’t want sympathy over his loss so she kept quiet.

“You are Klingon,” He smirked when she offered him no platitudes. He then looked at the half empty jugs. It would be their last drink together. “It would be my great honour to present to you a gift.” He pulled out an old dagger from his tunic. He chose not to go into detail about the history of the knife and why he had been ordered to take it as far away from the home world as possible.

Although finding the _kuvah’magh_ had been their main mission, he had another one to protect the history of the knife. It was better that she didn’t know its true history or meaning just as his crew hadn’t known. He wanted his crew to survive using their skill, make their own destiny and not rely on blind faith. He still believed in the Sacred Scrolls when they’d foretold the old relic had incredible power but if the scrolls were wrong about the Torres baby then could they be wrong about the taj? It was possible. Maybe the Klingons of this era were ready to know about the knife and return it to Qo’noS. He would leave that to the Order to decide. It had protected them for their entire journey and he hoped that the good fortune that the dagger had provided them over the years would be passed on to Janeway to help Voyager, and the knife, return to the Alpha Quadrant.

“This taj.” He deftly spun the dagger in his hand and handed it to her, handle first.

Kathryn accepted the dagger with a bow. “Thank you, Captain.” Kathryn looked at the old knife. The handle had a simple design of a serpent that wrapped around it with its head finishing at the ornate hilt. She unsheathed it to find the blade was twin edged and around twenty centimetres long, with traces of dried blood on one side. At the bottom of the blade, it had the Klingon letters ‘QT’ etched into the steel. Kathryn tested the weight of the blade in her hand. Like all Klingon weapons, it was well balanced and well made.

“This knife has been in my house for more than eight generations.”

Kathryn looked shocked. It was over four hundred years. “I couldn’t …”

“Yes you can and you will, Janeway. I’ll never return to Qo’noS and I’m the last of my House. I want you to have it.”

She nodded, re-sheathing it and then placing the knife on the bookcase. “Thank you, Kohlar.”

He looked at the time. The blood wine was nearly gone and it was late. It was time for him to leave. “Do you remember the Vaj mej?”

She thought for a few seconds. It was hard to think straight. “The something of the Warriors?” The details were very foggy. The blood wine was very strong and her time on the Klingon vessel had been over ten years ago.

“The parting of the Warriors.” Kohlar unsheathed his ceremonial dagger and used it to slice across his right palm.

Like most Klingon rituals involved blood in some form or another. Even though she was very drunk, she remembered the ritual and held out her right palm. She had to, her honour and his was at stake if she refused. Grateful for the numbing affect of the blood wine, she didn’t flinch as the knife cut across her palm and blood flowed freely, pooling in her palm.

“Batlh bIHeghjaj.”

“GhIj qet jaghmeyjaj.”

Kathryn grasped Kohlar’s bleeding hand with her cut one, squeezing it firmly together then they put their still joined hands over their jugs allowing their mixed blood to drip into the blood wine.

Kohlar nodded and released his grip.

They picked up their jugs and for one last time and sculled the remainder of the wine. They both banged the jugs on the table with a very satisfying crash then yelled together, “Qapla!”

“Janeway, I will leave now. Thank you for the evening.”

With increasing difficulty, Kathryn walked him to the door. “Thank you for the wine, Kohlar.”

The Klingon nodded.

The doors swished open.

A startled Chakotay jumped back a little. He was about to enter his code when the door opened. He moved out of the way to allow the Klingon to leave and bowed slightly out of respect. “Captain.”

“Commander,” Kohlar slurred, nodded back, and then headed to his quarters, hoping that he would make it there before he fell unconscious.

Chakotay walked into their quarters and immediately stopped, smelling the earthy odour of blood wine. The whole place smelt like a Klingon tavern he’d once visited on DS9. “Kathryn?” He turned to face her by the doorway.

Kathryn hadn’t moved except to use a hand on the bulkhead to stop herself from falling down. Blood flowed down her palm, along her fingers and on to the carpet. She’d held herself together as best she could but now that Kohlar had left, all she wanted to do was to collapse on the floor and go to sleep. Drinking copious amounts of blood wine had that effect on her.

Chakotay looked at the stains on the wall and the smashed barrel beside it. The two captains had shared an entire barrel of blood wine. They were completely and utterly mad. That brew was very, very strong, especially the vintage stock. Shaking his head, he wondered how they were even conscious, let alone upright. He could smell the potent alcohol on her breath from over a metre away.

Grabbing her arm, holding her cut hand in the air, he led her to the bathroom. He leant her against the wall. The glazed look in her eyes showed how very drunk she was. She hadn’t said a word. He wasn’t sure she was even capable of coherent speech. He only hoped that she wasn’t trying to stop herself from throwing up. He tapped his combadge. “Chakotay to the Doctor.”

_“Yes, Commander.”_

“I need you to make a house call. It’s the captain.”

_“Anything serious?”_

“No. A Klingon celebration.”

_“Another one?”_ The Doctor huffed. _“I’ll be right there, Commander.”_ The Doctor had a fair idea what symptoms the captain had. He’d treated many of the crew for alcohol related complaints ever since the Klingons had come on board. Also, there were the mock battles and other assorted Klingon rituals that had resulted in a sharp increase in broken bones, cuts, and abrasions. And then there were the injuries caused by the sexual encounters. He’d have holographic nightmares for long time over those. He was glad that the Klingons would be leaving in the morning and things would return to normal on Voyager whatever that was.

“Chakotay out.” He looked at the wound on her hand. It was still oozing blood. He wiped the blood away with a clean flannel and then wrapped it around her hand. He quickly undressed Kathryn, leaving her panties and singlet on. He manoeuvred her over to the toilet.

From somewhere in her alcohol befuddled brain, Kathryn could sense that Chakotay was there, helping her. She could feel his strong hands on her arm, guiding her, helping her undress. It was embarrassing enough that she needed help to stand that she didn’t want to have help to go the toilet. Struggling, Kathryn protested, “I … can do … this.” She managed to pull her panties down but then nearly missed the seat as she sat down. She grunted and waved Chakotay away as she righted herself on the seat.

After she’d finished and cleaned her hands, Chakotay watched as she struggled to stand upright. He retied the flannel over the wound but she still left bloody handprints on the sink and wall as she stumbled out of the bathroom toward their bedroom. He had to stifle a laugh as she collapsed face first onto the bed, not moving.

Chakotay heard the door ring. “Kathryn…” Trying to rouse her, he shook her arm.

She turned her head so she could tell him to leave her alone. “Go …away.”

He tried again. “Roll over. The Doctor’s here.”

Kathryn snorted, her reply almost completely muffled as her face was buried in the pillow. After a few attempts, she managed to roll onto her back and slide under the covers. She was so tired, she felt like she could sleep for a week. She closed her eyes hoping that she would do just that.

Chakotay left to let the Doctor in.

Both men entered the bedroom to find Kathryn’s mouth open with a dribble of drool beginning to work its way down her chin and snoring loudly.

Amused, the Doctor snuck a quick look at the first officer.

“I keep telling her that she snores when she drinks too much.” Chakotay smiled. “And she keeps telling me that she doesn’t. Now someone will believe me.”

The Doctor grinned back. “Sorry, Commander. I don’t want my program decompiled so I’m not backing you up.” He injected her with the extra strong alcohol detoxifier along with a long lasting analgesic for the headache she was sure to have in the morning. Next, he waved the dermal regenerator over the cut on her palm. It sealed the wound, leaving only a thin pink line. “All done. The captain will be fine. Make sure she drinks some water in the morning.”

“I will. Thank you, Doctor.”

“I’ll see myself out. Goodnight, Commander.”

“Goodnight, Doctor.”

Chakotay quickly finished his nightly routine and climbed into the bed. Kathryn was still snoring loudly so he pushed her onto her side. She grunted something in Klingon. He thought it might’ve been ‘baQa’ – the Klingon equivalent of ‘fuck off’. He chortled to himself. Captain Janeway, who was the very model of a perfectly proper Starfleet captain, was pissed as a newt, swearing like a Klingon and almost unconscious from drinking way too much. It was so unlike her but it was very liberating at the same time.

He kissed her cheek and whispered, “I love you.” He wasn’t expecting her to reply in kind as she normally would have done and she didn’t because she started to snore again but thankfully softer than before. Chakotay grinned then rolled over and soon fell asleep as well.

* * *

*beep beep* *beep beep*

_“The time is 0600. The time is 0600.”_

“Oh … God.” Kathryn rolled over, still feeling tired but otherwise okay except for her dry throat. Her tongue felt like it had tripled in size. It was parched like her throat. She tried to remember what had happened last night. Most of the details were sketchy. She thought she and Kohlar might have shared a barrel of blood wine but she wasn’t quite sure. She had no idea how she got to bed let alone undressed.

Chakotay rolled over to face his love. His arm gently ran over her arm. “How are you feeling?”

“Okay, I think. I just need some water.”

“We need to get up anyway. The Klingons are leaving at 0700.” Chakotay got up, walked to the replicator, and ordered a glass of water. He smiled as he spotted the remains of the barrel on the other wall.

Kathryn was leaning on the doorframe when he returned. “Thank you.” She drank the water and looked at the stained wall where the barrel had smashed. “Did we really drink an entire barrel? I don’t remember much.”

“Knowing these Klingons, after the second round it would’ve been tall tales of all the battles you’ve been in.” He teased, “How you single-handedly defeated the Borg, Species 8472 and the Hirogen in glorious hand to hand combat to the death!”

“Yeah right.” Kathryn scoffed. “I was almost fully assimilated. I was nearly purged like the rest of the galaxy, and my ship was taken over by a race that hunted me like an animal and shot me with an ancient ballistic weapon. Some glorious tales there.”

Chakotay smile faded and he went quiet. He was an idiot. He didn’t need to be reminded of how close he’d come to losing her. “Sorry, Kathryn.”

Kathryn closed her eyes and rubbed her face. She was still very tired. “I’m sorry too.” She didn’t want to upset him, reminding him of their past close calls. Those incidents scared her half to death too and were still the stuff of her occasional nightmares. At the time, there had been little time to think about how close they’d all come to being killed. There had been so many close incidents in their nearly seven years in the Delta Quadrant that she was grateful to the someone or something that was looking after them. And another of one of the things she had to thankful for was standing in front of her. She put her hand on his bare chest, covering his heart then kissed him gently. “I love you.”

His arms rested on her hips. He looked down at her into her blue eyes that were so full of love. “I know.” He bent down to kiss her then they held each other in silence, their arms wrapping around each other in a tight embrace. They didn’t need to say anything. It just wasn’t necessary.

Eventually, they let go. “Chakotay, you have a shower. I need another glass of water.”

“Do you want any breakfast?”

Her stomach felt all right but then it could be the detoxifier masking the effects of the previous night. “I’ll just have something light. A piece of toast.”

“Okay.” Chakotay headed to the bathroom.

Kathryn walked passed the bookcase and stopped when she saw the old Klingon dagger. She remembered that Kohlar had given it to her but that was all. Picking it up, she was grateful for the gift but displaying weapons wasn’t her thing so she placed it the cargo box where she kept some of the other gifts she’d received along their journey.

After another glass of water, she showered, dressed, and then had breakfast with Chakotay before starting another day in the Delta Quadrant.


	2. Chapter 2

_Stardate: 54619, one month after the Klingons left Voyager._

_Qo’noS, KDF Civil Service – Federation Affairs complex._

Bekk Toral was about to finish yet another tedious shift as an administration assistant. In his youth, he’d dreamt of doing great and glorious deeds for the Klingon Empire that would inspire many songs and legends, like most Klingons. He laughed cynically. His energy consummation reports on the K’tarian sector were legendary, worthy of Kahless himself. The permanent sneer took on more anger than usual. Sometimes he wished Worf had killed him instead of leaving him in this living version of Gre’thor.

The other bekks in his section were either very old warriors or those who had been too badly injured and couldn’t teach at the various KDF schools. They were content to contribute to the Empire in the only way they could but he wasn’t. Nor would he ever be.

He had been internally exiled after his own plan to get the Sword of Kahless had failed in the Gamma Quadrant. Worf, son of Mogh had decreed he shouldn’t die yet again. It meant that for the rest of his life he would be sifting through the endless gigaquads of reports that Starfleet and the Federation sent. There’d be no chance for glory for him or what remained of his House.

Never.

His computer beeped interrupting his wallowing. It was a new report from Starfleet. He looked at the heading. QoH! He thought. They’d send the report to the wrong section. He was about to forward it to the correct bekk but the heading drew his attention.

It was from the Starfleet ship, USS _Voyager_ via the MIDAS array. His interest had been piqued because the deep space MIDAS array technology had been something he’d been studying as part of his engineering studies before his life had taken a turn for the worst. Starfleet was keeping in regular contact with the ship that they’d all thought had been lost. He checked the security code on the report. It was only confidential so he was allowed to open it.

It was the latest logs from the ship. He scanned through the official logs of ship, ignoring his nemesis, the energy consummation reports. There was no way he’d read those. Toral scanned through the summaries until he suddenly stopped.

IKS _Kotar._

A Klingon ship in the Delta Quadrant!? He was amazed and stunned.

He quickly looked up the details on his system.

The Klingon ship was a D7 class battle cruiser that was over a hundred years old. It had left Qo’noS in 2264 and now it had been found in the Delta Quadrant. This was a story that he’d like to know more about. He downloaded everything on the Kotar, its crew, and its mission on to his padd. He searched the Voyager’s logs and downloaded their references to the ship as well. At least, reading about the adventures of the hundred-year-old ship would give him a momentary distraction to his pitiful life.

Toral forwarded the Voyager’s logs on to the right bekk just as the end of shift horn sounded. He logged out and headed for home, ignoring all the invitations to drink and cavort with his fellow useless warriors. He had more important things do than listen to tales of long forgotten battles that nobody cared about anymore.

Once he was alone inside his small room, he began to read everything. It was an amazing tale that started out so heroically only to finish with a whimper and not a bang. The crew of the Kotar had searched for over a hundred years for the _kuvah’magh_ only to abandon the quest after they’d interpreted the Sacred Scrolls incorrectly. How could they think that a half Klingon-Terran girl baby would be accepted as the saviour of the Klingons? PetaQs! He thought.

He’d nearly finished reading all the information about the Kotar’s crew when he found a snippet of intriguing information. He sat back recognizing immediately what it meant but disappointment and bitterness rose in him again. His potential saviour was out of his reach. It would be decades before Voyager would return. Too many years. He stalked over to the replicator and ordered an ale. Drowning his sorrows was the only thing left he could do. Oh, how he cursed his aunts and wished that they’d never have found him.

* * *

_Stardate: ~54976.4, the end of Endgame_

“Mister Chakotay, the helm.”

“Aye, Captain.”

“Set a course, for home.” Kathryn’s voice cracked with emotion. She stood in the middle of the command deck, frozen to the spot in disbelief. All she could think of was that they’d done it. The near impossible. At the moment, she was acting on autopilot. Everyone was bone numbingly exhausted. For the last three days, all the crew had worked feverously to get Voyager ready for the battle with the Borg and their trip through the transwarp conduit.

Chakotay checked the helm. He had to do it twice. Taking a deep breath, he needed to focus on his task. He was in shock like everyone else on the bridge. “Course set. Maximum speed is warp two, Captain.”

Shaking her head, she laughed to herself. Finally, she regained some of her higher brain functions. “Belay that, Mr Chakotay.” They’d just battled the Borg, gone through one of their transwarp conduits travelling 30 000 light years and then burst through the middle of an exploding Borg tactical sphere and she was acting like it had barely scratched the paint on the hull. “Mr Tuvok, damage report.”

Tuvok had already reviewed the damage reports and had been waiting for the captain to ask him. He understood her reaction. The probability of Voyager ever returning to Federation space had been very low. Their achievement was very much against the odds. “Although we have warp drive, Mr Vorik recommends we halt until the plasma control relays and the hull breaches from deck six though to deck twelve are repaired. Emergency force fields are holding. Shields are at sixteen percent. Ablative armour is non-functional. Aft phaser array and torpedo launchers have been destroyed. Long and short-range sensors, as well as the internal sensors, are not functional. Transporters are offline. Repairs are underway and expected to take at least a week. Sickbay reports two serious and eleven minor injuries.”

“Thank you, Tuvok.” Voyager was badly damaged. There wasn’t a lot functioning but overall it could have been a lot worse. Thankfully, the only fatality had been her future self and she hoped that those injured would recover quickly. It would take longer to repair the damage than normal because of Lt. Torres’ absence but she was confident that they would be able to get to Earth under their power and not have the indignity of requesting a tow. The delay would allow them time to get the rest of the ship repaired and ship-shape before they reached to Earth.

Kathryn walked over to the helm and placed a hand on Chakotay’s shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. “Chakotay, all stop.” Kathryn allowed her hand to linger on his shoulder for a few seconds. Once it was safe to travel, at warp two they’d be home in two weeks.

“All stop. Aye, Captain.” As Chakotay repeated the order to stop the ship, he heard the groans of disappointment from the bridge crew. It was a delay in their homecoming. They’d been in the Alpha Quadrant only a matter of minutes and the crew’s patience had all but disappeared. They’d been prepared to spend a lifetime getting home but now they were nearly there they’d all of a sudden become very impatient. He couldn’t blame them. He laughed to himself when he thought it would be a very ignominious ending if they crashed into another ship or a planet because they had no sensors.

Chakotay looked up into her glistening blue grey eyes, verging on tears and her smile infectious as he beamed a smile back as well. He wanted to gather her in her arms, tell her that she did it. She got them home, that he loved her and that her future self’s sacrifice was worth it.

Ensign Porter exited the turbolift and walked to the helm station. She was Tom’s helm replacement.

Chakotay stood up. “Ensign, all stop, station holding.”

“All stop, station holding. Aye, Sir.”

Kathryn pointed to her ready room. “Chakotay, we have several reports to write. Mr Tuvok, you have the bridge.”

Both officers nodded in acknowledgement.

Kathryn entered her sanctuary followed by her first officer. As soon as the doors closed, she turned around and walked into the welcoming arms of her lover. The relief was almost overwhelming. Before her older self came through the temporal rift, she thought their chances of ever seeing Federation space was slim despite their contact with the Starfleet through the MIDAS array. All the crew had made a life and a home on Voyager but her older self eventually convinced her that she could have her cake and eat it too by giving them a way home and to potentially cripple the Borg.

The stress of the last few days had taken its toll. Working almost non-stop to equip the ship with the ablative armour, enhanced weaponry, and increased shielding from the Admiral’s specifications, she’d barely slept. Most of her time had been spent with the engineering working parties installing all the equipment while Chakotay held the fort on the bridge.

Chatting to her older self in the shuttle just before the mission had been a bit disconcerting but necessary. The admiral wouldn’t elaborate about anything else, only saying that she’d come back to prevent the loss of so many of their people and to help Tuvok. And that was all. Both knew that it was a suicide mission but the older woman had gone willingly, just as the captain would have if it had been required. They’d needed her to distract the Queen for as long as possible and she’d had, ensuring that Voyager had succeeded.

Tears welled in her eyes at the thought of the admiral’s sacrifice.

Whispering his love for her, Chakotay wrapped his arms around her hugging her tightly. “You did it.”

“No. We did it. All of us.” Kathryn knew that she wouldn’t have survived the journey without his support or love. Her hands wrapped around the small of his back, squeezing him tighter. “I couldn’t have done it without you.”

Chakotay kissed her, lingering on her lips and then again, whispered words of love.

“Oh…Chakotay. I love you.” Kathryn smiled radiantly. His love filled her heart. He’d stood by her through thick and thin, helping her, arguing with her even, but always by her side, supporting her. Although they hadn’t said anything directly, she’d decided when they got home she’d devote herself to him just as he’d done with her. If that meant resigning from Starfleet and going to Dorvan or Trebus then so be it. She didn’t care as long as it was with him.

“I love you more than life itself.” His hands cupped her face, studying her look of love and he smiled. He’d waited nearly six years to ask this particular question. Even though they’d been together for nearly all that time, he’d never would have considering asking it. He couldn’t explain why, he just never considered it until now. They were home. He wanted to spend the rest of his life with her, and he was sure she felt the same. “Kathryn, will you…”

_“Tuvok to Janeway.”_

Not for the first time did Chakotay curse Tuvok’s sense of timing. In the beginning of their relationship, the Vulcan had an uncanny knack of interrupting them when they were getting too close. Chakotay had told Kathryn once that Tuvok was hiding his true telepathic skills. Most Vulcans were touch telepaths but Chakotay had suspected that Tuvok of being fully telepathic. It was only after Kathryn had told Tuvok about the depth of their relationship and their love, that those annoying incidences mostly and thankfully, for Chakotay ceased.

A little annoyed at the interruption, Janeway stepped back but still held Chakotay’s hand as she tapped her combadge. “Janeway here.”

_“Captain, Admiral Paris is calling.”_

“Put him through to my console, Tuvok.” The admiral was one call she couldn’t ignore.

_“Stand by, Captain.”_

Still, holding hands, Kathryn and Chakotay walked around her desk then she switched on her computer.

_“Captain …”_ Owen couldn’t believe it, struggling to speak. Voyager was home. Tom was home. It was the best Christmas present he’d ever received.

“Admiral.” Kathryn knew exactly how her mentor was feeling.

_“Welcome home.”_

“Thank you, Sir.”

_“I won’t keep you. USS Dundas will escort you to Earth. I’ll contact you again when you get closer to sort out the media circus that will be present on your arrival home and what happens after that.”_

Kathryn groaned. She hated the PR side Starfleet. Joining Starfleet, for her, had not been for self-promotion.

Owen read her mind. _“I know you don’t like it, Katie, but you’re a hero according to the President and the CinC.”_ Owen could see her squirm in her chair. Katie would just say that she’d done her job and nothing more. He didn’t like this side of Starfleet either but after the Dominion War, the Federation needed good news and Voyager’s return was just that. Owen changed the subject. _“Can you give me a quick sitrep?”_

“Yes, Sir. We are currently unable to move. Although we have warp drive, it’s currently offline while the plasma relays are being repaired, shields are low, and sensors are non-existent. Overall, Voyager is heavily damaged but we are making repairs and we will make it to Earth under our own power.”

_“I have no doubt about that.”_ Owen smiled. _“Can I ask a personal favour?”_

“Of course, Sir.”

_“Can you patch me through to Tom, please?”_

“Stand by, I’ll put you through.” Kathryn grinned. Her mentor would get a pleasant surprise knowing he was about to find out he was now a grandfather.

After connecting Owen, Kathryn, with a crooked grin and now a twinkle in her eye, turned to face Chakotay and took his hands in hers. “Now, you were going to ask me something before we were rudely interrupted?”

* * *

“This is Derryn Hynch of FNN interrupting our regular programming with a news flash. Starfleet has just announced that the long lost USS _Voyager_ is back in Federation territory. The details are sketchy. Starfleet aren’t saying much except they’re still two weeks from Earth. Admiral Paris of the Pathfinder Program will be issuing a statement in thirty minutes. Alan Jones will be covering that statement from San Francisco. Admiral Paris’s own son, Lieutenant Tom Paris is the chief helm officer on board…”

Spitting out his Klingon beer, Toral couldn’t believe it. The FNN had just reported Voyager was in Federation space. Perhaps his fortunes were changing after all. He immediately knew what he had to do, how to do it and he knew just who could help him, and fast.

He accessed his computer and set about contacting his ‘friends’. He still cursed his aunts at every opportunity but now he also thanked them for setting up his secret accounts. Soon he would have no need of this secret cache of credits. He’d have more than enough power and prestige.

* * *

_USS Voyager, Alpha shift._

_“Chakotay to Janeway.”_

“Go ahead, Commander.” Grateful for the interruption, Kathryn put down the circuit board and wiped her brow. It was hot in the Jeffries tube.

_“Captain Rolton is calling. I’m transferring it now.”_

“Thank you, Chakotay.”

_“Rolton to Janeway,”_ the captain of the Dundas said.

“Go ahead, Captain.” Kathryn waved her hand toward her two assistants, Ensign Tabor and Crewman Gilmore, indicating for them to take a break as well.

Marla Gilmore sat back against the wall of the tube also grateful for the respite. She took a swig from the canteen before handing it over to Tabor Nil.

_“A civilian cargo ship has just reported engine and life support failure. It’s six hours away. We’ll be back when we can,”_ Rolton explained almost apologetically.

Janeway knew that the long-range sensors were still offline. They’d only partially restored their short-range scanners but they were extremely limited. She was down in a Jeffries tube repairing the long-range sensor relay connectors.

With B’Elanna out of action, the captain had been acting as the chief engineer. “Understood, Captain. We’ve coped for seven years by ourselves. I think we’ll be all right.”

_“We’ll return when we can, Captain.”_

“Very well, Captain. Voyager out.” Kathryn took a drink from the canteen then contacted the bridge. “Janeway to Chakotay.”

_“Chakotay here, Captain.”_

“The Dundas will be leaving now to respond to a distress call. All stop until we have short-range scanners back on line. That should be in approximately six hours.” It wasn’t a hard decision although a disappointing one. It would delay their return by half a day or more but Voyager was still practically blind. They’d been relying on the Dundas for sensor readouts and flying behind them at full impulse. It wasn’t safe to travel on sensors.

_“Aye, Captain. All stop.”_ Chakotay smiled to himself. He swore he could hear the groans all the way from deck fifteen. More delays in their return.

“Chakotay, I’ll see you in a few hours for lunch.”

_“Aye, Captain. Chakotay out.”_


	3. Chapter 3

A figure all dressed in a black stealthy commando suit materialized in a Jeffries tube on deck three. Wasting no time, he silently crept toward his objective.

He scanned the room. His heads up display received the telemetry and confirmed the location. The quarters were empty. He’d taken advantage of Voyager’s extensive damage. They wouldn’t be able to detect him or his advanced transporter system.

He moved back toward to the emergency access point that each room had in a Starfleet vessel. He placed his sensor blocker on the door then opened the door. He’d paid the Ferengi handsomely for this piece of technology that would fool the computer sensors tricking them in to thinking that the door was still closed when it wasn’t.

He opened the door and entered the living room. Wasting no time, he began to search the living room. He looked through the bookcase and all the objects on display on the tables around the room. There were some Terran objects and books but most of them appeared to be from the Delta Quadrant. He’d never seen things like them. There were statues, rocks, and even a very nice blue stone necklace. He pocketed that item for himself.

The object wasn’t in the living room.

The only think he could find that was Klingon was a small old book of the Sacred Scrolls. He flicked through the ancient tome. It was written in the ancient Klingon script that he couldn’t read. Kohlar must have given the old book as a parting gift to Janeway along with the most sacred relic for a Klingon. Putting it back, he sneered at the thought of how stupid the crew of the Kotar believing that a half-bred Klingon could be the next Kahless type figure. They’d deserved to be dying on some nameless planet so far away from Qo’noS.

After quickly scanning the bathroom, he moved into the bedroom and began searching through the bedside cupboards. All he found were endless padds and personal items such as hairbrushes, toiletries, and undergarments, both female and male. He barely raised an eyebrow. Since announcing Voyager’s return, the more sensational media outlets were having a field day over who was with whom. Looking at the picture of the captain and the first officer in civilian dress hugging one another, most of the media outlets had got it right.

But he wasn’t here for gossip.

His frustration was mounting. All his research had said that starship captains kept gifts in their quarters, usually on display but not Captain Janeway.

The final place left to search was the wardrobe. He opened the door and looked at the neat rows of uniforms and civilian dress, both female and male. He looked in between the rows of clothes for any boxes, anything that might store the dagger. He was about to head back to the Jeffries tube when he heard the main door swish open.

He crept into the wardrobe and silently closed the door. His heads up display automatically switched to a night vision configuration allowing him to see in the dark. He quietly took out his phaser and set it for heavy stun. With luck, the internal sensors wouldn’t pick up the phaser discharge if he needed to stun them and he could make his escape if discovered.

He heard steps come into the bedroom. He held his breath.

“I’ll just wash my hands.” Kathryn walked into the bathroom after throwing her jacket on the bed. Kathryn’s hands were covered in grime from repairing the sensor grid. They still had another three to hours of work to go before they would have the forward array operational and then they could safely move.

“Sandwich and a coffee?” Chakotay asked from the doorway.

“Yes, thanks. I’ll be right out.” Kathryn ran her hands through the sonic washer. The grime disappeared in seconds. She applied a barrier cream, massaging it in well. They needed it. Her hands were roughed up with skin missing from a two knuckles and a couple of nails broken from the work. She smiled to herself because in a few weeks she could have a real manicure.

Toral breathed a sigh of relief when he heard the captain walked out of bathroom and into the living room. For the next fifteen minutes, he had to endure the cramped conditions of the wardrobe as they had their meal. He also had to endure their seemingly endless small talk. Klingons did not engage in small talk.

While waiting, he thought about what he could do if he couldn’t find the dagger in her quarters. He thought about where she would store it. It would be either in her ready room or one of the cargo bays. He accessed Voyager’s schematics. Cargo bay one was on deck ten. Cargo bay two was one deck down and the Ready room was two decks up. He probably could beam undetected into all three of those locations.

He held his breath again as he heard them come into the bedroom.

Chakotay ran his hands over her bare arms.

She sighed, feeling his wonderful hands roam up and down her arms. She put her hands on his hips and kissed him. Her hands moved from his hips over his back and through his hair as their kiss deepened.

Groaning, he cupped her bottom, pulling her against his growing arousal.

Kathryn responded by tilting her hips toward him, grinding, rotating, her own arousal building as their tongues danced together.

Chakotay kissed and gently nibbled his way down her throat while kneading her breasts, tweaking her nipples through her skivvy material. He felt her hands working along his hardening length, squeezing, rubbing, and stroking driving him even wilder.

Damn! Oh how she wanted to make love with him but there was no time. She stopped his hand as it moved down towards her crotch. “Hmm… Chakotay. We can’t.” As much as she wanted to continue this, she still had work to do and Chakotay had to get back up to the bridge. She kissed him once more before stepping back. “Later, my love.”

Chakotay smiled, understanding but wondering how was he going to be able to concentrate for the rest of his shift? He had no idea. With a wicked grin, he eyed her up and down. “Later.” he repeated. He watched her brush her hair and smooth down her skivvy. She was beautiful, smart, compassionate, and everything else he liked, and she was his. He laughed. It was more likely that he was hers. “I love you, my Kathryn.”

Kathryn couldn’t get enough of him saying that and the way he sung her name. It made her feel so loved and she was looking forward to a lifetime of him saying that to her. She put her hand on his chest. “Chakotay, I love you, too.”

“I know. We better go.”

“I’m going back to finish the sensor control relays on deck ten. The internal scanners will back on line in an hour. The short-range scanners should be fixed in three hours and then we should be able to get under way again.” She grabbed her jacket from the bed and put it on as they walked out of their bedroom.

“Okay. I’ll see you in few hours.”

Kahless! Toral thought. He wasn’t sure he could’ve endured the sounds of them slurping and slobbering as they kissed and their sickly words of love anymore. If they were Klingons, the male would’ve taken her there and then and said ‘to Gre’thor with duty’. Humans talked too much. He was thankful when he heard the outer door swish open and close but he still swore aloud. He had less than an hour to find the object. The ready room was next logical place to have objects displayed. He checked his sensor readings. There was no one in the ready room. He entered the coordinates and pressed his site-to-site transporter.

A moment later, he materialized in the ready room. After checking all the objects on display, he went through the cupboards. Still no dagger. Time was running out. There were two cargo bays to search. His sensors readings showed there were people in both of them.

He started to panic. His plans were falling apart. He had to think of something fast. The only thing he could do was go directly to the source to get the information. He checked the deck plan and found the location of the sensor control relays. Taking out his phaser, he pointed out in front of him and then pressed his transporter.

Marla held the relay in her hand as Nil locked it in place. They were concentrating so hard that they didn’t hear the transporter beam whine five metres away.

Toral quickly stunned them, watching them slump unconscious on to the deck, dropping a hyper-spanner with a bang. Where was the captain? She wasn’t in the Jeffries tube.

“Marla?” Kathryn poked her head into the tube after hearing a crash. She’d been in the tube junction area fixing the computer control system.

Toral turned toward the sound and instinctively fired hitting the captain in the left shoulder, spinning her around and cracking her head on the handle of the ladder that went between the decks before she landed face first on the deck plating. She was unconscious before she hit the ground. He grabbed the Bajoran’s and other female’s arms and dragged them to the junction area, dumping them unceremoniously near their knocked out captain.

He set the transporter beam to wide beam and beamed them all onto his ship. He wasn’t interested in the Bajoran or the other human female but they could be useful as a bargaining chip or to force Janeway to give him what he wanted.

Rong’s antennae twitched while Denel just shrugged when they saw the three unconscious bodies materialize on the pad next to Toral. They’d been mercenaries long enough to realize that plans often changed.

“There’s been a change of plan.” Toral already knew what he was going to do. He just needed a bit of time to do it. He hit his communicator. “Toral to Tral.”

_“Yes, Toral.”_

“Voyager’s internal sensors will be repaired soon. External sensors should take about three hours to fix. Stay alert.”

_“Understood, Toral.”_ Tral had been a captain for hire for half his life and although he was a mercenary, he ran a tight ship. It was one reason why he’d survived for so long in such a dangerous business. He set about rechecking the cloak and the other ship’s systems again to be sure.

“Rong, beam Denel and hostages to the cargo bay then get down there. I’ll be there in a minute. Denel, when you get there, replicate two chairs. Tie the captain up in one and put the others behind a force field.”

“Yes, Toral,” they both answered.

Rong looked at the famous Starship captain. She was lying on her stomach, her head turned to the side. Blood flowed freely from a cut above her eye, covering that side of her face, and there was a nasty bruise spreading over most of her forehead. He winced because she was likely to have a very bad headache but that was the least of her problems. He didn’t even want to think what the Klingon was going to do to her to get what he wanted.

After they’d been beamed to the cargo bay, Denel replicated two chairs and hauled the still unconscious captain onto one of the chairs, tying her hands behind her and her feet to the legs of the chair. After Rong had arrived, they dragged the Bajoran and the other female to the back of the cargo bays and then set up two force fields to hold them in.

Denel double-checked the captain’s bindings and the force field configuration.

Marla groaned, and rolling over, opened her eyes. She had no idea where she was or what had happened. One minute, she was holding the sensor relay and the next she was waking up in this cargo bay with her head feeling like it had the day after her Academy graduation. She rolled the other way and saw Nil lying near her. She sat up too quickly. Her head nearly exploded but she grimly persisted. She’d been stunned. It wasn’t difficult to recognize the splitting headache and the painful tingling sensation of a stun shot in her back but despite this she started to crawl over to Nil.

“I wouldn’t do that.” Denel was watching the human. “There’s a powerful force field surrounding you.”

Marla stopped. The Klingon’s warning was clear and she obeyed. What the fuck was happening? Marla shook her head. She was still a bit groggy. Turning over she sat back against the wall and looked around the cargo bay. This wasn’t Voyager. At the other end of the bay, ten metres away, she gasped. It was the captain, tied onto a chair, bloody and bruised. The captain was unconscious. Had they beaten her up? It certainly looked like they had. And why had they beaten her? Would they do that to her and Nil? What did they want? Marla’s mind raced and she couldn’t take her eyes off her CO. The Captain’s head was resting on her chest and blood was dripping down her nose onto her lap.

“Prophets!” Nil moaned, rubbing his head and sat up.

“Nil, watch it. There’s a force field between us.”

“What?” Nil rubbed his face.

Marla pointed toward the captain and whispered, “Nil, the Captain…”

The Bajoran looked to where Marla was pointing. To Nil, Janeway looked like she’d been tortured. She was bruised and bleeding. “Bastards!” He jumped up, fists clenched. He walked as close to the force field as he could before the energy made his skin tingle and the hairs on his arms stood up.

“Nil …” Marla pleaded, standing as close to him as she could.

Denel walked over, his hand on his phaser.

None of them noticed that Toral had come in. The Klingon carried a large bag. “Keep them quiet, Denel.”

“Yes, Toral.” He smiled as his hand rested on his phaser threateningly.

Marla and Nil stopped and backed off toward the wall of the bay. All they could do was watch.

Nil began a prayer to the Prophets hoping to give all of them strength for what he knew was about to come. Unfortunately, he had first hand experience with torture from his time on Bajor with the Cardassians and in the Maquis.

Toral took out the medical tricorder and scanned Janeway. She had a bad concussion, head wound and a bad stun wound but she would survive. He had three hours to get what he needed and leave before Voyager could detect them. He took out a hypospray, injected a stimulant into her neck and waited.

* * *

Chakotay checked his console’s chronometer. It was 1520. He’d been expecting Harry to tell him that the internal sensors were functioning again. Kathryn had said that they would take an hour to fix when they’d had lunch. It had now been two hours since their lunch. It was possible that the relays were damaged worse than they first thought but it was unusual for Kathryn not to check in.

“Harry, what’s the status of the internal sensors?”

Kim checked his board. “Still not functional, Commander.”

Chakotay pressed his combadge. There was no harm in getting an update. “Chakotay to Janeway.”

Chakotay waited for a response but got none. It was possible that, with the damage, her combadge wasn’t working but in the back of his mind he thought something was wrong.

“Chakotay to Gilmore.”

There was still no response.

“Chakotay to Tabor.”

Again no response. Now he was worried.

They had no internal sensors so they couldn’t check their locations.

“Tuvok, send a security team down to deck ten, sensor control. Something isn’t right.”

“Aye, Commander.” Tuvok had already alerted the duty security team and they were on their way. Although Tuvok didn’t believe in intuition, after seven years, he’d come to trust the first officer’s instincts.

“Harry, what sort of external scans do we have?”

“Minimal very short-range only and restricted. Range is limited to five hundred kilometres. I could just tell you that there was a planet out there but not what type it is.”

“Scan the area anywhere.”

“Yes, Commander.” Harry watched as the scan data come up. They were in empty space as far as the sensors could tell. But that didn’t mean much as they were still virtually blind. “Sir, there’s nothing out there.”

_“Ayala to Chakotay.”_

“Go ahead, Mike.”

_“We’re in the Jeffries tube. There’s nothing here except tools lying on the deck. We’ve searched the adjacent tubes.”_ Mike paused, his friend wasn’t going to like what he was going to say next. _“In the tube junction we found a pool of blood.”_

Chakotay’s gripped his chair a little harder. “Whose is it?”

_“The captain’s, Sir.”_

Mike didn’t give his friend time to digest this information. There was still more disturbing news to tell his former captain. _“Our tricorders picked up three phaser shots. Stun setting. Starfleet issue signature.”_

Chakotay heard enough. “Intruder alert. Tuvok, search the ship from top to bottom.” He had a feeling that they’d beamed off Voyager but the only thing they could do was search the ship deck by deck. Why would Starfleet covertly take the captain away? All the messages from HQ they’d received had been positive. The Maquis had all been pardoned and even Kathryn’s breaches of the Prime Directive had been settled after they’d maintained contact via the MIDAS array. It didn’t make any sense.

“Yes, Sir.” Tuvok activated all available security teams and had as many available personal begin the search.

“Chakotay to the Doctor.”

_“Yes, Commander?”_

“Has the captain come to sickbay for treatment?”

_“No, Sir.”_

“All right. Get yourself to deck ten, sensor control. The captain is missing and her blood has been found on the deck.”

_“I’ll be right there, Commander.”_

Chakotay forced himself back into his seat; otherwise, he would be up pacing about making everyone else nervous. With the ship extensively damaged and virtually no sensors, they were blind. Anyone could beam in and out undetected. The question was why. Why target the captain and the others? What did they want? Chakotay’s fists clenched as his mind went off in a tangent, thinking of all the possible scenarios, many of them too horrible to contemplate.

“Mr Kim, put up the last tactical display from the Dundas.” He wanted to find out where the nearest ships were. Most of the nine ships that had been scrambled when the Borg sphere came through the transwarp conduit had returned to their normal patrol routes and were heading in the opposite direction to them. The closest ship was the Dundas but it was at least four hours away on a rescue mission.

Voyager was alone. They were used to that. He’d have to be patient and wait for the search to be completed which was something he wouldn’t get used to. Kathryn was missing. All his instincts told him he should be doing something but he was grateful that the first officer took over and allowed their well trained crew to do their jobs. Without sensors, Voyager couldn’t move anyway.

* * *

Kathryn’s head rolled as she woke up. She couldn’t see out of her left eye, it was swollen and closed shut. Her head was pounding, her shoulder felt like it was on fire, and nausea was threatening to overwhelm her. She groaned as she tried to focus on her surroundings. Shaking her head, she couldn’t work out why there was a Klingon sitting in front of her.

“Captain? Wake up.” Toral moved his chair closer, shaking her bad shoulder.

Kathryn winced at the contact. Still dazed, she tried to move her arms, to stop him touching her painful shoulder but they wouldn’t move. Everything was still fuzzy and it took a moment to realize that she was tied up.

“Captain Janeway. Wake up!” Toral repeated a little louder, slapping her face several times.

Still confused, Kathryn looked toward the voice. “Stop that! What?”

Toral had enough experience getting information from people to realize that torturing someone directly took far too long and was generally counter productive. Most victims were likely to resist with all their strength until they lost unconsciousness. As Janeway already had a bad concussion, she was more than likely to lose consciousness quickly thereby threatening her life and losing more time. Time which he didn’t have.

Toral would use the Bajoran and human as tools. Humans were weak and couldn’t stand to see someone tortured in front of them. She’d cave in quickly.

Kathryn focused on the voice in front of her. He was a Klingon in civilian dress. Over his shoulder, she could see another man, his back to her. Looking around, she knew she wasn’t on Voyager anymore. She knew her ship backwards. She remembered being in the Jeffries tube fixing the relay and then it was blank. By the burning feeling of her shoulder, she’d been stunned, more likely with a Starfleet issue phaser. “What do you want?”

“You have something I want.”

What could he mean? The technology? How did he find out about their technology? “What could that be?” Kathryn would try to get as much information out of him as possible to stall him. Although she didn’t know how Voyager was going to find them with their sensor not operational.

“Denel, bring the Bajoran over here.”

“Yes, Toral.” Denel turned off the force field while Rong had drawn his phaser to cover Tabor.

Kathryn groaned, her head throbbed, and it was becoming hard to concentrate again. She was so tired. Bajoran? She was getting confused again. She tried hard to concentrate. Who was it? Only when she saw Ensign Tabor did she realize whom the Klingon meant. Where was Gilmore? She wondered, looking around, then she saw her standing down the other end of the bay, and was relieved. They both looked okay.

Denel gripped Nil’s upper arm firmly and stopped in front of the Klingon.

Toral took out a pain stick from his bag and began to whack it lightly on his palm, trying to intimidate them. “This is an ‘Oy’Naq.”

Kathryn didn’t stop looking at the Klingon. She knew what it was and she realized that Tabor did too. The Cardassians had been fond of using Klingon pain sticks when she’d had the pleasure of their company but she was very proud of Tabor, as he stood tall and looked defiant. They both knew that the Klingon was going to use the pain stick on Tabor to get her to do what ever he wanted.


	4. Chapter 4

_“The Doctor to Chakotay.”_

“Go head, Doctor.”

_“The blood is the captain’s. It appears the captain may have hit her head after she was stunned. A few of hairs were found mixed in with the blood. It looks like a minor wound. No alien DNA or other unusual samples were found.”_

“Thank you, Doctor. Chakotay out.” He breathed a sigh of relief.

“Commander.” Tuvok had just received the news of the search.

“Yes, Tuvok.”

“All search teams have reported in. There is no sign of the captain, Ensign Tabor or Crewman Gilmore.”

Chakotay contemplated his options. There weren’t that many considering they still couldn’t move and they were still virtually blind. The priority had to be to fix the sensor relays, both internal and external so they could move again and search for the captain. “Chakotay to Vorik.”

 _“Vorik here.”_ The young Vulcan was now the acting chief engineer since B’Elanna was out of action.

“The captain, Gilmore, and Tabor have disappeared. Redouble your efforts to fix the sensor relays. I need those sensors. Now.”

_“Yes, Sir.”_

“Do whatever you need to do, Chakotay out.” Chakotay sat back in his chair, forcing himself to relax. He’d done what he could. The crew were doing their jobs, working as quickly as they could but without B’Elanna and Kathryn, their engineering experience was limited. It was going to take time.

He looked at the view screen, trying to remain positive. Somewhere among the millions of sparkling stars was Sol. It was too far away for him to point it out. He snorted, Kathryn could probably find it from anywhere. She’d been waiting for this moment for seven long years.

Kathryn.

Kathryn had said yes. They were going to make it official.

He should be very happy, even ecstatic but now he was worried sick.

Spirits! Don’t go there, Chakotay, he thought to himself. He shifted in his seat. Trying to distract himself, he activated his centre console and went through the damage report.

_“Torres to Chakotay.”_

“Go ahead, B’Elanna.” Chakotay hadn’t seen his friend since she and the baby had been released from sickbay. Miral was very beautiful and seeing Kathryn holding the baby in her arms, doting and obviously clucky, filled him with hope and joy that it could be them one day, holding their own baby.

_“I’m down in long range sensors control. They’ll be operational in an hour.”_

“What?” Chakotay stood up shocked. Only five days ago, she’d given birth to a beautiful girl.

 _“Tom’s looking after Miral. He can’t help Voyager until we can move but I can. I’m not crawling around in a Jeffries tube. I’m sitting down repairing the components in a nice comfy chair while my eager young ensigns do all the hard work of crawling through the tubes.”_ After the ship went to Intruder alert, Harry had filled them in. B’Elanna pleaded, _“Chakotay, I want to help. Please.”_

Chakotay still worried. They were so close to home. He didn’t want to lose anyone. “What does the Doctor say?”

 _“As long as I’m sitting down, which I’m doing, and not lifting anything heavy, which I’m not, then I’ll be fine. Miral is sleeping and shouldn’t need to be fed for another three hours. The captain …”_ B’Elanna stopped, her voice choking with emotion. She cursed her fluctuating emotions. Captain Janeway was like a second mother to her. She had to do something to help. _“Please Chakotay, let me do this.”_

Chakotay stroked his chin. Voyager, Kathryn, and the others needed Torres. “All right, B’Elanna.”

_“Thank you. Vorik is handling the shields and the warp drive and Seven should have the internal sensors up soon.”_

“Thanks for the update.”

_“Okay, Torres out.”_

Chakotay sat down again. Repairs were going ahead and soon they’ll be able to get under way. The only thing left for him to do was to contact Starfleet. “Harry …”

Harry’s communication console beeped. “Commander, we are receiving an incoming message. Location unknown. It’s not a Starfleet prefix code.”

“On screen.”

The battered face of their captain appeared larger than life on the view screen to the shock of the bridge crew. Her normally well-groomed hair was messed up and matted with her own blood. A cut was still bleeding on her forehead and there was a large bruise covering her forehead that had closed her left eye.

Chakotay closed his eyes for a second; his heart seemed to stop for a second before he regained composure. He’d expected a head wound but was still shocked at her appearance; she’d looked like she’d been used as punching bag. Despite the blood and the bruise, her jaw was set and she appeared determined and defiant.

She didn’t allow her crew to dwell on her appearance. She knew what she looked like. Toral had prepared her a statement to read. If she didn’t read it as is, Tabor would be punished. She looked at the padd and began to read, _“Commander, you are to follow these instructions. Do not contact Starfleet. Go to cargo bay two and to the large personal cargo box marked Janeway five. The code to the container is Janeway kilo mike one four juliet. Inside the box, you will find an old Klingon dagger. Bring it to transporter room one. You have ten minutes to comply or Ensign Tabor and Crewman Gilmore will suffer the consequences.”_

Before Chakotay could say anything, the view screen went blank. He blinked, shocked at her appearance and the threat but he recovered quickly. They were lucky that the transporters were now on line. “Tuvok, can we beam the container to the transporter room?”

Tuvok checked the display. “Yes, Sir.”

“Have it beamed to the transporter room one and have Seven met me in there with a tricorder ASAP.”

“Yes, Sir.”

Chakotay was in the turbolift before Tuvok had replied. He ran through along the corridor making people get out of the way. Along the way, he wondered why some one would want an old Klingon taj. Kathryn had spent some time on a Klingon ship but that was over ten years ago. If B’Elanna had given Kathryn a gift, she wouldn’t have put it the box with all the other diplomatic gifts. It would’ve been with in her quarters as a personal item. It had to have been from the Klingons from the Kotar they’d met four months ago. Captain Kohlar had been a traditional Klingon and would’ve given Kathryn a farewell gift.

He arrived a little breathless in the transporter room at the same time as Seven.

“Commander?”

“Wait, Seven.” Chakotay knelt by the box and repeated the code, “Janeway kilo mike one four juliet.”

The red light on the lock changed to green and Chakotay opened the cargo box. It was filled with gifts from some of the worlds they’d visited. There were ornate vases, intricate pieces of jewellery and old books. He couldn’t remember some of the planets that they’d come from. Kathryn was obliged to hand them to the Federation on completion of their mission but she’d be allowed to keep a few pieces.

Chakotay found the dagger under a few items. He unsheathed the knife. “Seven, scan this. Get us much information as you. We don’t have much time.”

“Yes, Commander.” Seven flipped open the tricorder and ran the probe all over the dagger and the scabbard. After the scan had finished, Seven processed the data. “The knife is over fifteen hundred years old. I believe it is the qIrom taj.”

Chakotay picked up the knife and the sheath. Fifteen hundred years old. It wasn’t the oldest weapon he’d ever held. To be honest it wasn’t that impressive at all. “qIrom taj?”

“The Knife of Kirom.” Seven pointed to the initials on the blade. “It is considered sacred to all Klingons because it is the knife that killed Kahless. The knife is said to be stained with the blood of Kahless and it has a very old blood sample on one side. It is said to provide certain mythical powers to the holder.”

“Kahless?” Chakotay scratched his chin. Spirits! It would be priceless. “Chakotay to Torres.”

“Torres here.”

“The Knife of Kirom. Quickly, what can you tell me?”

B’Elanna remembered her mother’s talks about the most famous Klingon. _“It’s a knife that has the blood of Kahless on it and it’s been locked in a vault on Qo’noS for nearly two centuries ever since Sarpek the Fearless found it.”_ She wondered why he was asking about this ancient knife.

“I’ve got it in my hand.”

 _“What! Are you sure?”_ It had to be a fake, B’Elanna thought.

“Yes. It’s over fifteen hundred years old and it has blood on it. And it’s what the kidnappers want.”

_“Tuvok to Chakotay.”_

“Go ahead.”

_“The captain is calling.”_

“Put her through.”

_“Commander, do you have the knife?”_

“Yes, Captain.” He couldn’t speak her name.

_“Place the knife on the transporter pad and then beam the knife to the following coordinates …”_

“I will do that but I first need assurances that all the captives are being well treated.” Chakotay stalled, using procedures straight from the handbook on how to handle a hostage situation. By giving them the knife, the hostages’ lives would be in even more danger because their usefulness would be over. Kathryn would know that and he was sure that was what the kidnappers knew as well. He was asking for a show of good faith and he hoped that the captors would be reasonable.

Chakotay waited after hearing the link close. He offered a silent prayer to the Spirits. He was taking a risk but he had at least to try.

The recognizable whine of a transporter beam materializing something had both Chakotay and Seven on edge.

A minute later Marla Gilmore materialized on the transporter pad carrying a padd.

Chakotay was relieved.

_“Janeway to Chakotay.”_

“Go ahead, Captain.”

_“There’s your show of good faith. Crewman Gilmore has the coordinates to beam the dagger. You have one minute to comply.”_

“Marla, beam the dagger.” Chakotay placed the dagger on the transporter pad. If all they wanted was the dagger then he’ll let them have it. Chakotay just wanted Kathryn and Tabor back.

“Yes, Sir.” Marla inserted the coordinates and beamed the dagger away.

“Where are those coordinates?”

“Space, sir.” External sensors were still not functioning properly. All they could tell was that the knife was beamed five hundred kilometres off their port side.

 _“Janeway to Chakotay. We’ll be released when they see that they aren’t being followed.”_ Her tone was subdued.

Chakotay realized why her tone was quiet. He wondered how they were going to be released. The kidnappers had been very careful in hiding their identity by getting Kathryn to pass on their demands. Their chances of rescue were slim at best and it would be a while before Voyager had any chance of launching a rescue bid. Voyager couldn’t follow them anyway. Spirits! They didn’t even know there was a ship out there. It didn’t even have to be cloaked because their sensors weren’t working.

“Marla, are you okay?” Chakotay asked. He wanted Tuvok to debrief her to find out everything they could about the kidnappers after the Doctor had checked her over.

“Yes, Sir. I was stunned but I’ll be okay.”

Chakotay nodded and ushered her out of the transporter room and toward sickbay.

~~*~~

“Thank you, Captain. You’ve been most helpful.” Toral sneered, holding the dagger in his hand, waving it on front of her. As he thought, she’d caved in quickly, not wanting the Bajoran to be hurt in front of her. He’d scanned the knife and confirmed its identity as soon as it was beamed aboard. Now he couldn’t wipe the smile of his face. With this relic, the Council would have to recognize him. “I’ve waited a long time for this.”

If he’d been asking for her command codes for Voyager then Kathryn would have resisted with everything she had. Tabor would have understood. She couldn’t believe that this Klingon went to all this trouble for an old knife. It had to be very valuable for him to risk everything. She just couldn’t remember what Kohlar had said about the knife other than it was very old. It was possible that Kohlar hid the true value of the knife from her. To protect her? Possibly. She didn’t know and was unlikely to get any answers from this Klingon.

“Rong, put them back in the cells.” Toral watched as Denel and the Andorian moved Tabor and Janeway back to the makeshift cells. When Rong reactivated the force field, Toral walked over to Janeway, who was standing, hands on her hips. “Captain, relax. You’ll be released as soon as we reach our destination.” Toral spun on his heel and left the cargo bay with Denel, leaving Rong to ensure the cargo bay was secure.

Kathryn scoffed, not believing that for a second as she rubbed her hands to get circulation going after being tied up. This Klingon was not like any normal Klingon she’d known unless they’d changed in the seven years that they’d been away. He had no honour. He’d threatened to turn both her and Marla over to his men and have Tabor tortured in front of her to get what he wanted.

Her head throbbed and she was finding it hard to concentrate. She was tired and letting her mind wander. This wasn’t going to end well. When they got to where ever they were headed, they were likely to be killed because they knew too much. This is how most of these situations ended. And it wasn’t fair. For seven years, she’d battled the Kazon, Vidiians, the Borg, and Species 8472 only to die at the hand of some Klingon wanting an old dagger as soon as they got back home. She wanted to see her mother and sister and not to mention Chakotay again.

As soon as the Andorian left, she slumped against the wall and slid to the ground, exhausted physically and mentally. She groaned, rubbing her shoulder and closing her good eye.

Tabor sat down after the captain did. He watched her closely. He’d rarely dealt with Voyager’s CO except for when she’d ordered the Doctor to use Crell Moset’s research to help B’Elanna a couple of years ago. At the time, he was very angry with her but eventually came to realize that the ship needed B’Elanna alive and the captain had been doing what she thought was best for all of them. “Captain?”

She pinched her nose but regretted it because she touched her swollen left eye. She winced. “I’m not asleep, just resting.”

“Yes, Captain.” The corner of Nil’s lips twitched. He’d wanted to laugh aloud and had even been tempted to say ‘sure’ but in deference to her rank he didn’t.

She smiled weakly. Maybe she’ll ask the Doctor for the definitive answer on whether keeping someone awake was the correct first aid procedure for concussion.

“Captain, what’s this all about?” Nil wanted to keep her talking. He might as well find out why a Klingon had stunned them and held them hostage.

Kathryn had no idea what was going on but told him all that she knew which wasn’t all that much.

~~*~~

Denel followed Toral to his leader’s cabin. In Denel’s pocket, his own scanner was analysed the taj as they walked. Once inside, Toral prattled on about his plans for the restoration of his House and all the power he would have in a few days. Denel wasn’t interested in any of his delusions.

“How soon will we get to Qo’noS?” Toral asked his deputy.

“At present speed, two days.”

“Tral has assured us we can’t be followed with the upgraded Romulan clocking device we have on board.” Toral’s confidence grew with every passing minute. He had lured the escort ship away from Voyager and after a minor hiccup taken possession of the qIrom taj. Tral’s promises of how good his ship, the Dawn Raider, hadn’t been exaggerated. It would take hours before Voyager could do anything and they wouldn’t contact Starfleet to protect their captain and the ensign. Finally, his fortunes were changing. “I need to work on my speech to the High Council.”

Denel left him alone, having no desire to pander anymore to Toral’s whims than was absolutely necessary to get the job done. He had to gain possession of the blade and leave or blow up the ship before it reached the Klingon home world. It wouldn’t mean just civil war if any particular House obtained the real relic. It would mean the destruction of the Empire.

As he approached the access hatch on the third level of the small ship, he looked at the scanner’s report on the dagger and it confirmed the knife’s identity. He adjusted his scanner to let out a bioelectric disruption field that would mask his entry into the access tunnel. Safe in the knowledge that he wouldn’t be detected, he crawled along the tunnel until he reached the main power switching relay. He carefully opened the access panel and planted the small device in between the relays. It would be undetectable unless an engineer actually saw it.

This was his back up plan should his main plan fail.

He crawled back out of the tunnel and continued to play the dutiful ally, biding his time.


	5. Chapter 5

B’Elanna handed the last repaired relay board to Ensign Lillee. “Make sure you seat it correctly.” She twinged when she handed him the board. She was still having uncomfortable post-partum contractions. She’d been sitting repairing the circuit boards for just over an hour but it felt longer. She was tired, sore and her breasts were painfully swollen. Miral would want a feed soon and not a moment too soon, she thought her breasts might explode. 

“Yes, ma’am.” Lillee took the board and crawled along Jeffries tube until he came to the external sensor control processor. Tony had already prepared the connections. As instructed, he matched up the circuits perfectly before slotting the board in. One final adjustment with the hyper-spanner ensured they were stable. He double checked using his engineering tricorder and smiled as it was now working. 

He closed the processor hatch, gathered all his tools, and crawled back out to the corridor. “All done, Lieutenant, it checks out.” 

“Well done, Dennis and Tony.” B’Elanna thanked her eager young ensigns before contacting Chakotay to tell him the good news. “B’Elanna to Chakotay.” 

_“Go ahead, B’Elanna.”_

“You should have external sensors now.” 

Harry to reinitialize his board. _“They’re running at eighty percent.”_

_“Good job, B’Elanna. Start scanning, Harry.”_

“I’m going to feed Miral then have a sleep. If you need me again, just come and get me.” 

_“All right, B’E. Thank you. Chakotay out.”_

~~*~~ 

“Chakotay to Seven.” Chakotay hoped that Seven would have some good news after efficiently getting the enhanced sensors in Astrometrics operational as soon as the main sensor array came back on line. 

_“Seven here. One moment, Commander. The data you are about to request is coming through now.”_ The sensors identified only two vessels within the surrounding sectors of space. _“The USS Dundas and the MVS Audrey are the only two ships close to our location. There are no other warp trails.”_

Chakotay knew that the Dundas had gone to the rescue of the Audrey after it developed engine failure. The kidnapper’s vessel had to be cloaked. “Seven, scan for cloaked ships.” 

_“Yes, Commander. Seven out.”_

The scan could take a while. “Tuvok, ship’s status?” Chakotay wanted to know what they could do when eventually they got under way. 

“Warp drive is functional to a top speed of warp 8.7. Shields are fully operational. Forward phaser banks are charged and ready. Aft phaser banks and tubes have been destroyed. There are twenty-two torpedoes left. All hull breaches have been repaired.” 

“Thank you, Tuvok.” Chakotay was relieved. Voyager could now safely travel at warp. Voyager was now able to go after Kathryn and Tabor. He hoped they would only face one ship. If they had to face more than one, their vulnerable stern could be a problem. 

Waiting for Seven’s report, Chakotay read the report on the Knife of Kirom. It was shrouded in mystery although they didn’t say all that much. Only that it was the knife that mortally wounded Kahless. The entries regarding the knife varied from the mystical to the ridiculous. It sounded like the Holy Grail from Earth’s Christian history. There were stories of the holder having unlimited power and even immortality. 

He wondered why Captain Kohlar had such an important relic in the first place. He didn’t even know that Kathryn had the knife and maybe Kohlar didn’t tell Kathryn its true significance. It was all very mysterious. 

One of the stories said that the knife did provide ‘protection’ from your enemies. Like most ancient stories, there were only vague references to ‘against the odds’ or ‘horribly outnumbered but were victorious’ battles won but when he thought about it, it had seemed to provide the Kotar some protection. They’d travelled over thirty thousand light years with very little damage for over a hundred years. The Kotar had still been functional before they’d blown it up in attempt to get closer to the _kuvah’magh._

Had the knife afforded Kathryn or Voyager ‘protection’ in the time that it was in their possession? He couldn’t say one way or the other. They’d had some awful things happen to them since she had it. Top on the list was Joe Carey’s murder along with almost all the crew being shanghaied on Quarra. On the other hand, they’d come out of several fierce battles relatively unscathed including their last one with the Borg. He smiled to himself. Perhaps some of it had rubbed off on him as he considered himself very lucky when he and Seven had survived yet another shuttle crash on Ledos. 

Marla had seen two Klingons on board the ship with the one called Toral appearing to be in charge. Even if the stories weren’t true, having such a relic could be used for political gain. He knew little about the present state of Klingon politics but it had a history of being volatile. Any one with a legitimate reason could challenge the reigning Chancellor. Klingons would rally behind a man who had the sacred relic in his possession. 

He accessed the database on a Klingon named Toral and Denel. There was nothing on Denel. Although there were several men named Toral, one stood out. A Toral from the disgraced House of Duras and this appeared to be his third try to grab power. Shaking his head, he wondered how Toral was even alive. He’d always thought the Klingons were less than forgiving about transgressions such as he’d committed. Twice Lieutenant Worf of the USS _Enterprise_ had saved Toral’s life. He’d read enough. 

He decided he wasn’t going to wait for Seven’s scans to finish. He thought the ship would be heading for Qo’noS. “Ensign Blinman, set a course for the Qo’noS, maximum speed.” 

“Aye, Sir. Course entered, warp 8.7.” 

“Engage.” Pre-empting Tuvok’s obvious questions about what he was doing. “Mr Tuvok, please join me in the ready room. Mr Rollins, you have the bridge.” 

“Yes, Commander,” Both men replied together. 

“Tuvok, it’s Toral from the House of Duras.” Chakotay waited until the doors to the ready room had closed. 

“Duras?” Tuvok’s eyebrow moved upward. He was familiar with the family history. 

“It has to be. Marla overheard them using their names.” It was a basic error, perhaps it indicated overconfidence. A skilled kidnapper wouldn’t say names or anything that could be used to identify them. 

“The Klingons will need to be notified.” 

Chakotay ran his hand through his hair, mulling over the problem for a few seconds and then the answer came to him. Kathryn and Tabor had been threatened if Voyager contacted Starfleet, by subspace that is, where the enemy ship could detect their message. They’d use a different way. “We can leave a communication buoy here for the Dundas and then they can pass on the information to Starfleet. The cloaked ship won’t know.” 

“Very good, Sir. I will prepare the probe.” 

“Dismissed.” Chakotay watched as Tuvok left the ready room. He couldn’t bear to be in here for too long. It was Kathryn’s room, it felt and smelt like her and it was almost too much for him. Only a couple of hours ago in this very room, she’d made him a very happy man and now he could lose her forever. 

He walked back onto the command deck. On the bridge, he wouldn’t sit in the centre command seat either but out here he was among people who needed him just as much as he needed them. They’d help each other just as they had for the last seven years. 

“Sir, the probe is ready.” Tuvok had loaded all the relevant logs and all their plans on to the communication relay buoy. 

“Launch it, Tuvok.” 

“Probe is launched, Commander.” Tuvok checked the readouts. “The probe’s telemetry is stable. It will reach the rendezvous coordinates in approximately ten minutes.” 

_“Seven to Chakotay.”_

“Chakotay here, Seven.” 

_“I have been unable to detect any warp trail or particle waves indicating a cloaking device.”_ Seven was not used to failure. She’d tried everything she knew but had failed. Commander Chakotay was relying on her. The captain was in danger. She was unsure how to react. _“I am so…”_

“It’s all right, Seven. Keep scanning. I’ll have Icheb join you to assist you.” It wasn’t that surprising. They’d been away for seven years and were seven years out of date. Admiral Janeway’s improvements were mainly defensive, improved shields and ablative armour but not sensor technology. He wished they had more time to study the admiral’s ship. They could have used the technology. 

_“Thank you, Commander.”_

“Chakotay out.” 

~~*~~ 

Kathryn thought that they’d been sitting in the cargo bay for five or six hours. They’d been left completely alone. Kathryn spent the first thirty minutes looking for an access point in the wall of the cargo bay but there were none. 

The rest of the time, Tabor had been watching her closely, keeping her talking. She could tell that he took his job very seriously and didn’t want to answer to Chakotay when they got back if anything happened to the captain. Kathryn had to smile. She didn’t think the crew were scared of her at all. They were more afraid of Chakotay. He’d put the fear of their particular God into them more than she ever did. On Away missions, he must have told the crew what would happen to them if something happened to the captain. She smirked. 

With nothing more to do than sit and wait, all Kathryn wanted to do was close her good eye and sleep. Her headache hadn’t gotten any better. If anything, it had gotten worse. The increasing nausea and her vision in her good eye blurring occasionally weren’t good signs. 

Tabor could tell that his captain was suffering. When she did respond, it took some time and effort, her speech slurred and sometimes stumbling over her words. He felt helpless. There was nothing he could do except keeping her awake. “Captain?” 

Kathryn’s arms wrapped around her belly as her stomach lurched. She felt the gases rise and as she stifled a burp. She knew she would eventually lose her lunch soon and vomit all over the cargo bay deck. 

The door to the cargo bay swished open. Denel walked in. 

Nil had heard the captain try to hold back a burp. She didn’t look good at all. She was a deathly pale grey and sweating. He had enough experience of people suffering bad concussions. She needed medical treatment or her condition could deteriorate. He hoped that he could appeal to the Klingon. It didn’t make any sense for them to lose a hostage of the captain’s stature. It was in their best interest to make sure she was all right. Nil stood up, pleading his captain’s case. “Please, Sir. My captain needs medical attention.” 

Denel looked at the woman as she struggled to get up. She got as far as kneeling on one knee, holding onto the wall to keep upright. He was here to check on them because Toral was too wrapped up in his own little world to even care about his hostages. The captain didn’t look well, she looked very pale, and she was sweating. He wasn’t here to see innocent people get hurt. Denel nodded to the Bajoran then went to the medical locker. 

“Captain, sit down.” Denel turned off the force field. 

Kathryn was in no condition to protest, waves of nausea and pain prevented her from doing anything else. Gasping, she slumped back against the wall; just the effort of trying to get up had exhausted her. 

Denel knelt down next to the woman, and then scanned her. The tricorder told him how to treat her severe concussion. He injected the pain medication and waved the probe to reduce the building cranial pressure. 

“Thank you.” Kathryn was grateful. Her headache and nausea lessened considerably. For the first time she felt almost human but she wondered how long that would last. 

He waved the dermal regenerator to seal the cut on her forehead and it removed most of the bruising around her eye as well. Denel packed up the medical kit. He looked at the human and Bajoran. They had a dignity about them, remaining calm in the face of Toral’s threats and bluster. Toral thought that her agreeing to do what he wanted was an act of submission but Denel knew better. She had protected her subordinates in spite of losing face to her adversary. He could also tell that she was finding out as much as she could and looking for a way to escape. 

“Captain, come with me.” 

Standing up, Kathryn looked at him suspiciously. What was happening now? She looked at Tabor, who looked worried as well. 

“To the head, Captain.” Denel pointed to a door to the side of the cargo bay. 

Kathryn relaxed and followed him to the head. In the bathroom, she took advantage of the privacy and washed her face, removing most of the dried blood. Her face was still bruised but now she could see out of her left eye and her shoulder was still stiff but at least the burning sensation had gone. 

After taking Tabor to the bathroom, Denel provided them with a ration bar and a bottle of water then reset the force field. Without another word, Denel left them in the cargo bay. 

~~*~~ 

_On USS Dundas, returning to where they’d left Voyager._

Lieutenant Commander Blackwell checked her board. USS _Voyager_ wasn’t on long-range sensors. They were heavily damaged and sensors weren’t functioning so they shouldn’t be able to move. She ran a quick diagnostic on the sensors that showed the sensors were functioning normally. 

She then ran a more detailed scan. At Voyager’s supposed location, the scan indicated an old style comm. buoy. It must have belonged to Voyager. Since the Dominion War, they now used a cloaked version of the buoy now. “Captain, Voyager is not at their last known position and I’ve picked up an old style comm. buoy.” 

“Alex, anything else out there?” Captain Karen Rolton tugged her ear lobe. Voyager was used to being alone. Maybe they decided to continue on to Earth by themselves. 

“No, Sir.” 

“Can you access the buoy, Glenn?” 

Glenn McGrath, the Operations officer, checked the schematics of the marker. The code used was seven years old but the coding algorithms were still in the database. “Yes, Sir.” 

“Do it.” 

“On it, Sir.” There was only one file to decode. Glenn was expecting a message from Captain Janeway but there wasn’t. It was a message from Lieutenant Commander Tuvok, the tactical officer. He had no idea what that meant. “There is one file, from the tactical officer.” 

“Put it through to my console.” Karen waited. Her screen flashed and then opened the file. She read the report twice, not quite believing it. She still didn’t. It was unbelievable. “Glenn, get me Starfleet. Now! Helm, set a course for the Klingon home world, maximum warp. Engage when ready.” 

“Yes, Sir.” Both Glenn and Davidson at the helm, replied in unison. 

The captain realized that they’d eventually catch up to Voyager but as they were already eight hours behind and the Dundas’ maximum warp speed was only just fraction faster than the speed that Voyager had said it was travelling to Qo’noS, it could take all the trip to the Klingon home world to overtake Voyager. 

There were two starbases between Sol and the Klingon Empire but as they were well away from the usual trade routes there was a great deal of empty space between them and Klingon territory. Enough space for someone to cross the border virtually undetected, even without a cloak. The Dominion War had depleted the fleet and there just weren’t the ships to cover all of the Federation border. 

“Captain, there is an incoming subspace message.” Glenn read the prefix information. “It’s Starfleet. Admiral Bradman, head of Operations.” 

“On screen.” Karen straightened in her chair. “Admiral Bradman.” 

_“What is it, Karen?”_

“Captain Janeway’s been taken hostage.” 

_“What!”_

The captain filled the admiral in on what they knew. 

~~*~~ 

_“Toral to Denel.”_

Growling, Denel had just sat down for his mid watch meal. He stirred the pot of gagh, aggravated at the interruption and that the gagh wasn’t fresh. Some of the worms weren’t moving at all. “Yes, Toral.” 

_“I’ve called in a favour. In a day, we’ll have back up as we enter Klingon space. Three birds of prey will be following us to Qo’noS. When you’re finished eating, come up to the bridge and we’ll go through the new plans.”_

“Yes, Toral.” Denel was shocked. Toral had changed his plans. And that, in turn, changed all of his plans. This complicated everything. Suddenly he’d lost his appetite, pushing aside the half dead gagh. He got up and went to the bridge. 

As he made the short trip, he went through all the possible scenarios that he could think of. 

Tral and Toral were standing by the long-range sensor station, analysing the map. Denel stood at the side. He saw the rendezvous point. It was just inside the Klingon border. He listened carefully as Tral and Toral went through the flight plan. 

Captain Tral was very good, Denel thought. You don’t have a long career as a mercenary with out being good at surviving and improvising. He was tactically aware, telling Toral of the best routes to get to Qo’noS. 

It would be a pity to kill Tral but Denel realized that he was too dangerous. His crew was well disciplined, running the ship more like a Klingon or Starfleet vessel than what he thought a mercenary ship would be like. It was necessary to dispose of Tral as he might prevent him from getting hold of the knife. 


	6. Chapter 6

_USS Voyager, Astrometrics._

Icheb had gone through what Seven had done to locate the cloaked ship. They’d tried almost everything they knew using different algorithms to improve the long-range scanners but to no avail. The clocking device didn’t put out the usual chroniton, anti-proton or tachyons particles. It was a very sophisticated and advanced cloak.

It was frustrating but Seven and Icheb wouldn’t give up just yet. They had a few more options left and they were working through all of them systematically.

While a member of the Borg, Icheb had remembered an experiment from Species 509. It involved tracking a variation in subspace as a ship travelled at warp. He entered the subspace variance detection model and watched as the scanning bar slowly worked across the screen going from their present position to the just over the Klingon border, the extent of the scanning range. He couldn’t hide his disappointment when the scan got half way and still no cloaked ship.

“Icheb, the subspace variance wave dissipates quickly.” Seven reminded the young man, even though she felt the same frustration.

They spoke too soon.

The scan changed at a point near the Hromi cluster.

Seven and Icheb put the scan on the main viewer, rechecking the data then extrapolating the cloaked ship’s course. Seven nodded to the smiling Icheb. They’d done it. They’d found the captain.

Icheb prepared to send the data to the Helm console on the bridge.

“Seven to Commander Chakotay.”

_“Chakotay here.”_

“Icheb has located the cloaked ship. The course has been sent to the Helm.”

Chakotay sat up. The first good news they’ve had. _“Well done. Keep me informed. Tom, lay in the course and engage when ready. Chakotay out.”_

* * *

_On the Dawn Raider_

“Captain, we’re picking up a change of course in a pair of Starfleet vessels. They’re headed our way.”

Tral sat up. How was that possible? The Romulans assured him that the ship couldn’t be detected. “Are you sure?”

Tim Cahill rechecked the data. “Yes, Sir.”

“Time to intercept?”

“Four hours.”

“Bring up the tactical map.” Tral watched the view screen change from the streaking stars typical of warp speed to showing the relative position of all the ships on their scanners. The scan showed the two Starfleet vessels travelling toward them. Originally, they’d been headed for Regulus. Now they could be headed for Aldebaran or for them.

They were close to the Hromi cluster. They could hide in the cluster hoping that the Starfleet vessels hadn’t detected them and it was a coincidence that they had changed their course. Or he could get Toral to use the three Klingon ships to take on the Starfleet vessels allowing them time to get to Qo’noS but it was unlikely that these ships would go into Federation territory no matter how much Toral paid or offered to them.

“Sir, I’m picking up another Starfleet vessel.”

“Where?”

“Behind us.”

“ID?”

Tim Cahill groaned. “It’s Voyager.” This mission was going to the dogs. He should’ve listened to his partner. She’d said it was too risky despite the money. They were going up against Starfleet not some over the hill civilian ship or captain.

“Shit!” Tral muttered under his breath. They had to hide. They couldn’t take on three Starfleet vessels. Sensors would be virtually useless in the cluster. The Hromi cluster was a haven for mercenaries and the planetary governments would turn a blind eye to them for the right amount of credits. He would make use of contacts he had on one or two of the several planets. They would hide the ship or him until the crisis was over. “Helm, get us into the Hromi cluster.”

“Yes, Sir.”

“Tral to Toral.”

Toral was in his quarters. He was happy. In a day, he’d be in Klingon space, travelling toward the home world and his ascension to the Chancellorship. _“Yes, Tral.”_

“I’ve changed course. I believe Starfleet can detect us. Three ships are heading our way.”

_“What! How?”_

“I don’t know how but I’m protecting my ship. We’re going into the Hromi cluster.”

Toral nearly panicked. He wanted them to continue on to Klingon space but he knew they were no match for three ships. Could he force Starfleet to stop pursuing them? He could threaten the hostages again, forcing them to back off. The Klingon decided to leave that as a last option. _“All right, Tral.”_

Denel had been listening to the exchange between the captain and Toral. He had to stop them getting to the Hromi cluster. If they reached any of those planets, it was unlikely that the qIrom taj could be protected if any one else found out about their mission. The relic could be lost or even worse fall into the hands of the unworthy.

He had to move quickly. He could just blow up the ship right now but there was a chance to get the knife now but he needed help. The hostages. They were people of honour. They would help him. He took note of all the crew on the bridge before leaving the bridge to head for the cargo bay. Tral was too busy studying the tactical map to notice that Denel had slipped out.

Denel entered the cargo bay. He took out his scanner and set up a series of false sensor readings that would indicate that Janeway and the Bajoran were still in their cells.

Kathryn watched as Denel entered the bay and worked his tricorder. He didn’t say anything but she could tell that he was worried.

Denel turned off the force fields. He came straight to the point. “Captain, I need your help. I’m an agent of the Bax Qan Yan, the Protectors of the Sword, and I’m here to retrieve and protect the qIrom taj at all costs.”

Kathryn looked at the Klingon suspiciously. She hadn’t heard of the group. Denel was present when Toral and the Andorian threatened them but he appeared not to get any enjoyment out of threatening them especially Marla and her as much as the Andorian and Toral had. He had his own agenda and she wasn’t sure where they fit in it but so far, he’d treated them fairly. She thought she could trust him to a certain extent.

Denel quickly informed them of the secret society that had protected the true nature of the qIrom taj for centuries as well as hiding the other sacred relics from power hungry Klingon hands. It was for the good of the empire. They understood the nature of Klingon society. No one House could have possession of such power.

Kathryn finally understood why Toral had taken the knife. “What do you want us to do?”

“Captain, there are only fourteen crew on board. They won’t expect an attack from within.”

Kathryn looked at Tabor who nodded signalling that he was up for anything. He had been a Maquis and had plenty of experience in close combat just as she had. The only thing that worried her was that she wasn’t in the best of condition. She still couldn’t see properly out of her left eye and her shoulder was still stiff. She was confident though that when the mission started the adrenaline would make all those seemingly disappear. “Weapons?”

“Starfleet phasers.” He walked over to a panel in the wall and opened it, pulling out four phasers and three hyposprays. He passed them to them.

Kathryn checked the power level on the type IV phaser. It was fully powered. “What’s the plan?”

“Four crew are in engineering, four are on the bridge including the captain, and the rest are off duty.” They went through their plan, going through the details quickly.

Denel opened the cargo bay doors and quickly looked around. No one was usually on this deck which had the cargo bay and engineering. The crew quarters were one deck up and above that was the bridge.

He waved them through the door and silently they walked the door doors down to engineering. They ensured their phasers were set to stun. His tricorder indicated where the people were standing. Denel pointed out which crew they would each subdue. Tabor and Kathryn nodded. Denel held up on three fingers and counted down.

Denel activated the door and they rushed in.

Kathryn went left, her target was five metres away. Facing his panel, the human engineer was taken completely by surprise. He didn’t even move as she pressed her phaser against his neck and with her other hand she pressed the hypospray and injected the sedative, immediately rendering him unconscious. As soon as he was lying on the deck, Kathryn sprinted to the back of the room toward the engineer who was behind the warp chamber.

Denel came up behind the Andorian. Her antenna twitched, sensing somebody was behind her but it was too late. He injected her and she was unconscious before she hit the deck.

Tabor went right to the warp drive control panel. The chief engineer tried to press his combadge. Tabor had no choice but to use the back of his phaser to knock him out. He still used the hypospray to ensure that he remained unconscious.

Mark Schwarzer looked up from the environmental control. He thought he’d heard something. He was behind the warp chamber so he couldn’t see the others. He got up from his chair and walked toward the warp drive control panel. “Chief?” He was shocked when he saw the chief slumped on the deck and a Starfleet officer standing over him.

He went to press his combadge but before he’d even raised his hand Kathryn tackled him, throwing them both to the ground, and landing on the deck in a tangled mess of arms and legs. She had to stop him warning the bridge but she couldn’t risk stunning him. Internal sensors on a ship would have set off alarms on the bridge if there had been any weapons fire.

Schwarzer was the first to recover, getting to his feet. He tried to kick Kathryn as she got up but she saw the boot coming, deflecting the blow, and launched an attack of her own with an array of aikido punches that had him reeling backwards.

Denel admired the small human. She was an agile and deceptively strong warrior. Unfortunately, he didn’t have the time to wait until she finished the job. As the human engineer was forced backwards, he didn’t see Denel come up behind him. Grabbing him around the neck, his struggles didn’t last long as Denel injected the human with the sedative and he lay the man down on the deck.

Nil heard the fight behind him but continued to keep an eye on the corridor leading to engineering.

Kathryn bent over, hands on her thighs, breathing hard, recovering. It took a few seconds to regain control of her breathing. Her concussion had knocked her around more than she thought.

Denel gave themselves five minutes to get to the bridge. He set up a warp cascade failure to disable the ship and turn off the cloak. He didn’t want them to get into the Hromi cluster. In five minutes the Dawn Raider would be dead in the water.

Slowly, Kathryn walked over to Denel by the door.

Denel waved them to the door. “Come on.” There wasn’t all that much time. They had to get to bridge quickly before Captain Tral realized anything was amiss. Denel ran to the turbo lift followed by Janeway and then Tabor who kept turning around covering them.

The turbolift doors opened and the trio walked in. They were silent, steeling themselves for the coming minutes.

The doors to the turbo lift opened not at the bridge but one deck too early.

The Naussican watched the doors to the turbo lift open. He was angry. It was a normal state of affairs for someone of his race. He can’t remember why but he was. He grunted an acknowledgement to Denel. He walked into the lift but stopped and snarled when he saw the two Starfleet officers.

Denel heard the Naussican snarl. He didn’t give him a chance to do anything by stunning him. There wasn’t time to fight a Naussican who was even bigger than him. Unfortunately, he knew that an alarm would’ve sounded on the bridge by now warning Tral of phaser fire. He rolled the large unconscious alien away from the lift. Denel tried to shut the doors but Tral was smart and had quickly shut down the power to the lift as soon as the alarm sounded. “Come on. The access tubes.” They’d try getting to the bridge using the ladders between the decks.

As they ran past the first quarters, the door opened and an Andorian rushed out, ready for anything. He barrelled straight into Tabor, knocking him against the wall. He grunted as he grappled with the Bajoran. Denel came to Tabor’s aid.

Kathryn had been unceremoniously shoved aside by Tabor, protecting her, when he’d seen the blue flash of the Andorian rushing towards her. She just stopped herself from colliding with the wall but had no time to complain because she saw the orange flash of a phaser beam whiz by her ear and hit the turbo lift doors further down the corridor. She spun around, hugging the small inset that the door made in the adjacent quarters as cover before firing back down the corridor at her attackers.

Denel stunned the Andorian then fired down the corridor forcing their attackers to take cover, covering the captain as she pulled the dazed Bajoran to behind her.

Tabor shook his head. He was okay except having the breath knocked out of him. It was going to take something more than that to stop him. He was angry now. Crouching now, he leant to the side of his captain’s legs and fired down the corridor.

Denel looked at his companions. They were experienced at close combat. He was confident that they could move down the end of the corridor to take out the crew who were firing at them. “Captain, cover me.”

Kathryn understood what he was going to do. She nodded and continued to lay down fire down the corridor. Tabor was doing the same.

Denel sprinted the four metres to the next door well, firing as he moved, easily making it. Not wanting a repeat of the incident where the Andorian rushed out at them, he used his command code to open the door and stunned the surprised occupant. He leaned back against the doorframe and fired down the hall. “Move!”

Kathryn tapped Tabor on his shoulder, indicated for him to go.

Tabor didn’t hesitate and bolted for the next door followed then by Janeway.

Denel continued to fire down the hall. “Captain, the door override code is Denel alpha nine sierra bravo two.”

Kathryn keyed in the code then entered the room.

The human in the room had just woken up to the alarms. She’d retrieved her phaser and was just by the door when the captain entered the room. Kathryn was the first to react, stunning her at close range. Kathryn didn’t even wait to see her fall to the ground, turning back to the door.

Denel realized that Toral’s room was next. Unfortunately, he was on the wrong side of the corridor. They had two rooms still to clear plus they had to get past the two men who were firing down the corridor before they could get to the bridge. Denel waved them forward to the next room while he covered them.

When Tabor and Janeway reached the door well, they waved to Denel. Their orange phaser beams streaked down the hall forcing the two men back inside their rooms.

“Captain, that’s Toral’s room. Be careful.”

“Right.” Kathryn would gladly wipe the smirk of the Klingon’s face but was aware that he was dangerous.

“I’ll go, Captain.” Tabor volunteered.

Suddenly the door opened, taking them all by surprise. Toral grabbed Kathryn around the throat, his other hand held the qIrom taj to her chest, dragging her by her heels inside the room and ripping the phaser out of hand, disarming her.

Denel and Tabor watched in shock as he dragged Kathryn to the back of the room. They couldn’t do anything about it as phaser shots had them pinned against the door well.

Tral’s men grew over-confident seeing the door open and the captain snatched. They leaned further into the corridor, showing more of their bodies as they tried to finish the fight.

Denel saw the opportunity and took it. The orange beam of his phaser slammed into the shoulder of the man. The man spun around and then collapsed at the feet of his compatriot.

“Denel, stand down or she dies!” Toral yelled. He dug the dagger into Kathryn’s side, the blade easily cut through her uniform, and penetrating her skin.

Kathryn flinched as she felt the knife cut into her. “Don’t do it, Denel.” She groaned in pain as Toral thrust the knife a little further, trying to quieten her and succeeding.

Distracted, Tabor looked at Denel, making a fatal mistake. A phaser shot hit him in the shoulder and flung him against the wall then into the corridor. He lay dead in the middle of the doorway.

Shocked, Kathryn could smell the burning flesh. She couldn’t take her eyes of Tabor’s body. The front of his uniform was a black and charred mess. Their phasers had been set to kill and not stun like theirs had been.

Denel couldn’t stun them both and he had the man firing at him down the corridor still to contend with. Toral was smart. He held Janeway in front of him. The only shot he had was a headshot that was dangerous. Any phaser shot to the head; even though it was set on stun could still cause serious damage to the captain. He couldn’t care less about Toral.

He had one more card up his sleeve. He could activate his code words and the ship would blow up five minutes later. He would go along with what Denel wanted, bidding his time for an opportunity.

“All right.” Denel stood up, dropping the phaser, hands raised in surrender.

“Stand down! Don’t shoot the Klingon!” Toral yelled to the man outside, trying to hide his triumph and amusement. He watched as Denel slowly stood up and crossed the hall. As Denel looked down to step over the body of Tabor, Toral quickly twisted Janeway around and he shot him. “Don’t shoot the Klingon because I want to!” Toral roared with glee. He wasn’t going to take any chances.

Denel fell back over Tabor’s body with a sickening thud as his head hit the doorframe.

Kathryn stood in a daze but grateful that her phaser was only set on stun, from what she could see and smell.

Toral was about to head for the bridge, when the ship lurched to a sudden halt and now more alarms blared. Both Janeway and Toral stumbled against the wall. His hand slipped and sliced deeper along her stomach.

Janeway winced, groaning in pain. She tried hard to stifle the pain but failed as Toral gripped her tighter; trying to stay upright. She felt the warm stickiness of fresh blood flow down her stomach. Denel’s plan to stop the engines had worked and there wouldn’t be any chance of restarting them, either warp drive or impulse, for a long time. They had thrusters only. Kathryn could only hope that Toral didn’t have any allies waiting for him and that Voyager or some other Starfleet ship would come to their rescue.

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the now stationary star patterns along with the foreboding dark purples swirls and storms that make up the Hromi cluster through the viewport. It would take several hours to get there on thrusters, she estimated.

Toral had seen the stationary stars as well and now he panicked. “Qu'vax!” He had one last chance. Tral had told him that three Starfleet vessels were converging on the Down Raider. He would need a distraction and he was glad that finally he’d learnt from his previous mistakes. He’d use his back up plan.

“Captain, we’re going for a little ride.” He forced his hand back into her throat, choking her.

She tried to claw at his hand but stopped when he dug the knife into her side again. It was another sharp white pain erupted from her side to add to her other ones.

“Don’t do anything stupid if you want that useless human commander of yours to run his soft hands over you again,” he whispered into her ear suggestively as she relaxed against his arms.

She shuddered when he mentioned Chakotay. His lurid tone and lingering hot breath on her neck made her tremble involuntarily adding to her fear.

After he escaped, it might not be bad idea to see what she was like, he thought with a suggestive smile. But he’ll have to wait until they get to Port Crea. She wasn’t unattractive like most human females. He only hoped that she wasn’t weak like most human females were.

Kathryn was forced out of the room toward the end of the corridor. She had no idea where Toral was taking her.


	7. Chapter 7

_On Voyager_

Chakotay watched the view screen. The tactical view showed the enemy ship nearing the Hromi cluster. Voyager was catching up. B’Elanna and her team had performed yet another miracle, increasing their speed to warp 9.65 which was almost their maximum. It would be close run thing if Voyager could overtake the cloaked ship and stop them before they entered the cluster. If they did escape into the cluster, it would make sensor readings impossible and most likely allow the ship to escape. 

There were three other Starfleet vessels closing in as well. The Dundas was still behind Voyager and the other two were coming in fast but not fast enough to reach the ship before it entered the cluster. They just weren’t fast enough. It was up to Voyager to rescue their missing captain and ensign. They were on their own. It was nothing new. 

He held his hands on his lap, one thumb rubbing firmly against the other. He was acutely aware of the empty seat to his right. His captain, his best friend, lover, soon to be wife, and soul mate wasn’t there directing the battle as she should have been. Voyager had gone into battle without their captain before. He was confident he could handle the ship in battle. But what was different and what made him and all the crew very edgy was that he’d have to fire on the ship that she was on to disable the shields to allow Voyager to beam them off that ship. 

To distract himself, he looked around the bridge crew. They were all busy, checking their stations, readying themselves. Were they as tense as he? Probably but they could hide it better than him by busying themselves with their stations. All he could do was rub his hand red with his thumb and watch the screen as Voyager got closer to its target. He was confident that the plan Tuvok, Tom and he had come up with would work and that he’d see Kathryn again. He just had to remain focussed on the task ahead. 

Tom was at the helm, checking his preset manoeuvres, running a quick diagnostic to ensure he was as ready for the coming battle as he could be. He hoped it was going to be a relatively bloodless battle with the other ship seeing they were outgunned and surrender. If anything, it gave him something to do but still his thoughts drifted back to B’Elanna and Miral. Sam Wildman was looking after Miral and Naomi in sickbay, which was the safest place on the ship while B’Elanna was in Engineering, looking after her engines. They would all do what they could so Miral would get to know her godmother, Kathryn Janeway. 

Tuvok had the ship at yellow alert. He’d been running battle drills for the last several hours as Voyager chased after the ship that held his old friend. He ensured all the phasers and torpedoes were prepared. He had developed strategies with Mr Paris to protect their stern that had been severely damaged by the Borg. Tuvok focused his mind so that he would be prepared and alert for any development. 

Harry had run his diagnostics like the other bridge crew had. The long-range scanners were still not functioning properly but they could keep the ship that held his captain on the view screen. All he could do was to check his console and he didn’t have to wait long. He watched as the long-range sensors indicated a change in the status of the ship they were chasing. It had stopped. They were virtually dead in space. The sensors said their engines had shut down but that was all they could indicate. “Commander, the ship has stopped. They’re not moving.” 

Chakotay could see that on the tactical screen. “How long to intercept, Tom?” 

“Ten minutes, Sir.” 

“Battle stations, Tuvok.” Chakotay blinked as his eyes adjusted to the subdued lighting and red glow of the alert lights. 

“Phaser and torpedoes are loaded and ready, Commander.” 

“Harry, anything on the scanners?” 

“No, Sir.” The still damaged scanners couldn’t penetrate their shields. They’d have to get closer. 

Chakotay willed himself to stay still. “Can we get a visual yet?” 

“Yes, Commander.” 

The view screen changed to the live display. The ship grew from a tiny dot, barely recognizable as a ship, to Chakotay being able to discern the warp nacelles as the seconds passed. 

“Approach midships, Tom.” The normal approach was from the stern but attacking the rear of the ship could mean hitting the engines. He didn’t want to risk the explosion that would more than likely cause. They’d attack the shield generators from the sides of the ship. 

“Midships. Aye, Sir.” 

Chakotay leaned forward, watching as the ship grew ever larger. It was still too far away to fire on it. He wondered why they’d stopped just before entering the cluster. It wouldn’t have surprised him if Kathryn was behind the ship suddenly stopping. She may have escaped and disabled the ship. Kathryn was a small female and often opponents would underestimate her but he knew better. She was intelligent, tactically brilliant, and devious at times. He smirked, remembering one example, that of the Devore and in particular, Kashyk. They’d never stood a chance matching wits with her. 

He rubbed his chin. In a minute, he’d have to fire on the ship to disable the shields so they could beam them off. He just hoped that Kathryn wouldn’t be hurt when the Tuvok fired on the ship. They’d come so far. Together. He couldn’t wait for the next part of their journey together. He closed his eyes to offer a prayer to the Spirits, hoping the battle would end quickly and that Kathryn and Tabor would be safe. 

He opened eyes and sighed. He was ready. Voyager was ready. Kathryn would be proud of her crew. 

A huge blast of white light filled the view screen. It was the unmistakable pattern of a matter/anti-matter explosion. White sparks flew in all directions. The white hot angry cloud continued to grow before slowly petering out to virtual nothingness. 

There was no sound, in space or on the bridge. Everyone was shocked. They couldn’t believe it. 

Chakotay slumped back against his chair. He couldn’t breath. His heart stopped. He doubted if it would ever beat again. He’d just watched his love, his very life, die. Tears welled in his eyes and his hand went to his mouth, trying to stop an anguished cry escaping but he couldn’t. His voice cracked, “Oh … Kathryn.” A tear fell and ran slowly down his cheek. He didn’t bother to wipe it away. He didn’t care. 

The shockwave reached Voyager, buffeting the ship. The shields couldn’t prevent the ship being rocked. No one cared. 

_*beep beep*_

Harry stared at the screen, not hearing his comm. console beep. His jaw clenched and his lips trembled, trying very hard not to cry. His captain had just died in front of him. His mind went blank. 

_*beep beep*_

Tuvok had been staring at the screen as well but reacted first to the comm. signal. Tuvok quickly checked his board. “Mr. Paris.” 

Tom jumped when the Vulcan said his name. Like everyone else, he was in shock and incredibly sad. He’d lost his captain and saviour. He quickly wiped a tear away. “Yes, Commander?” 

“All stop.” Tuvok was sympathetic to the crew. He was acutely aware of their loss, especially Chakotay’s. He felt it too but he had a duty to perform. 

“All stop, Sir.” Tom brought Voyager to a stand still. He looked back to the view screen and couldn’t take his eyes of the wildly spinning bits of wreckage. Some flashing red sparks and others just grey lumps of hull. 

“Ensign Kim, your console.” 

Harry jolted, quickly falling back on his training. He’d mourn later. “Incoming call from the USS _Yackerboom.”_ The two Starfleet ships, the Yackerboom and the Vigoro, were still twenty minutes away. 

Chakotay had heard Tuvok speak to Tom and Harry but it only now just registered what the Vulcan had been saying. It was his job. There would be time to mourn afterwards. The crew needed him to perform his duty. It was what Kathryn would expect of all of them. He breathed deeply, trying to make his voice calm. “Thank you, Tuvok. Scan the area. Ensign, on screen.” 

_“Captain Stanley here. Commander, we’ve just detected an anti-matter explosion.”_

“Yes, Captain. The ship suddenly exploded. Voyager did not fire a shot.” Chakotay spoke in monotones. 

_“Fill me on what happened.”_

“Yes, Sir.” He was analytical, devoid of emotion, almost like a Vulcan as he reported. His heart was heavy and all he could was run on autopilot. “Voyager was approaching the ship at maximum warp when…” 

* * *

Groaning in pain, Kathryn rolled over onto her back on the floor of the escape pod. 

Alarms were blaring. Thick smoke filled the cabin, swirling toward the back of the pod. 

Coughing and spluttering, she struggled to open her eyes but the acrid smoke was stinging her eyes, making it difficult to keep them open. Tears welled and she tried to wipe them away but stopped as soon as she tried to move her left arm. Pain erupted as soon as she lifted her arm up. Gasping, she dropped it back down immediately and using her good hand, she wiped away the tears. 

She hauled herself up onto her knees and then to her feet, ignoring the sharp pain in her left leg. She could feel warm blood drip down her temple. She sucked in a deep breath, forcibly expelling it to gain some control over her body and the pain that she felt. She couldn’t remember the last time she felt this battered and bruised. Leaning against the back of the chair, she looked for the fire suppression console. Her neck and head throbbed as she turned to look for the console, thankful that she didn’t have to look very far. 

She pressed the button and waited for the system to clear the cabin. 

When the smoke cleared, she found Toral lying at the front to the cabin. She knew he was dead just by looking at the impossible angle his head was tilted at. His dark eyes were wide open; his mouth ajar and there was almost a look of surprise on his face. 

Ironically, the qIrom taj was lying just out of Toral’s reach. 

She gingerly stepped over his body to get to the main console to check the integrity of the escape pod. The alarms had stopped bar one. Without looking at the console, she could hear what the alarm was about; there was a small hull breach. It must have occurred when the ship had blown up. Toral hadn’t allowed enough time to escape the blast and now he was dead and the pod badly damaged. 

Kathryn looked for the hole, using the hissing sound as a guide. She found it just above the seat that Toral had used. It was a small hole the size of her thumb. 

“Warning! Warning! Life support failing,” the computer warned. “Oxygen levels are forty percent and falling.” 

Ignoring the alarm, she looked for the pod repair kit. She couldn’t find it. She had to think of something quick and so she looked at the wreckage on the floor for something to block the hole. Everything was either too small or too big until she looked at the qIrom taj. 

“Warning! Warning! Oxygen levels dropping,” the computer repeated. “Twenty percent and falling.” 

Using the knife, she cut a square off Toral’s shirt. Holding back more tears of pain from using her broken arm, she held the material against the hole and then pushed the tip of the dagger slowly in to the hole, temporarily sealing the breach. She listened and was satisfied that the hissing of escaping air had mostly stopped. 

Kathryn checked the life support panel. There was approximately three hours of oxygen left. The hole was still slowly leaking so she had doubts that she had that much time. Temperature control was malfunctioning as well. It was going to get a lot colder. 

Next, she checked the status of the pod. Minimal power. No propulsion. No communications. The emergency EVA suit had been burnt in the fire. Even uninjured, she couldn’t fix the damaged engines or communications array. The blast had destroyed them. She could do nothing but wait and hope for rescue. 

She looked around the pod, for a survival kit but found none. Her eyes came across Toral’s body. She will need to keep warm and so she stripped the Klingon of his jacket and shirt. It wasn’t much but it would help. 

Collapsing on the chair, exhausted and cradling her near useless left arm over her stomach she winced. Her hand lay across her knife wounds that were still bleeding. In fixing the breach, she had moved and twisted, reopening the wounds, making them bleed again. She tucked Toral’s sleeve under her uniform jacket and she used her left arm to put pressure on the wound to stem the flow of blood. 

Kathryn lent back and closed her eyes. She was tired. Her injuries, the reduced oxygen levels and the cold were beginning to affect her along with her second concussion in a day. 

It was hard to focus on one thing. Her thoughts were jumbled, ranging from the damned Caretaker, the Kazon, the Borg and all the other major incidents in their travels through the Delta Quadrant to what her review board and debrief would be like. But through the chaos of her jumbled dreams a figure kept reappearing, making it feel like all the hardship of the last seven years had been worth it. 

Chakotay. 

Finding him out there, developing their deep friendship and finally falling in love had been the best thing about the last seven years. 

“Oh God.” Kathryn sobbed aloud. Chakotay would have pulled the crew together and got the ship fixed as quickly as possible but it meant that Voyager could have detected the anti-matter explosion by now. He would think that she’d been killed in the explosion. 

Poor Chakotay and the crew. 

She thought about all the good times they had on Voyager but after awhile she was struggling to concentrate and to keep awake. Her eyes were heavy, and the increasing cold sapped her strength making her even sleepier. Her last thoughts before sleep took hold of her were of how happy she and Chakotay had been just after they’d reached the Alpha Quadrant. She’d agreed to marry him and he’d twirled her around in the middle of her ready room before he’d kissed her thoroughly. 

With that thought foremost in her mind, her eyes drifted shut and she sank into oblivion. 

* * *

_On USS Vigoro, near the Hromi Cluster_

The operations officer, Lieutenant Suzanne Black, had been running a long-range scan to detect activity coming from the Hromi Cluster. Hromi pirates were an occasional nuisance and only dangerous when they attacked in numbers. 

The scanner beeped, revealing a very faint power reading blip an hour away. Adjusting the sensors for a more detailed scan, she scanned the area again. It was a small escape pod. “Captain, I’ve detected a heavily damaged escape pod.” 

Captain Ray White asked, “Position?” 

“An hour away at warp five. Heading 034 mark 72.” 

“Helm set course for those coordinates. Maximum warp.” If there was someone in the pod, they could be injured and an hour might be too long. 

“Course set.” 

“Engage.” Ray scratched his nose. He had to inform Voyager. They were entitled to know. They’d lost so much to that ship. “Get me Voyager.” 

“Stand by, Sir.” The tactical officer, Steven Waugh, checked his tactical board. “Captain, Voyager is heading toward those coordinates.” 

“Helm, continue to the coordinates but do not get in Voyager’s way.” Voyager had obviously detected the escape pod too. 

“Aye, Sir.” 


	8. Chapter 8

Chakotay could not believe what Seven had just told him. Icheb and Seven had found an escape pod. He prayed that it was Kathryn but he couldn’t get his hopes up yet. They still hadn’t detected any life signs. 

He ordered Tom to get Voyager there at maximum warp. It would take eight minutes to get there and it would be the longest eight minutes of his life. 

“Commander, the Vigoro is following us.” 

Chakotay nodded. “Harry, anything new on the sensors? 

Harry was still struggling with the sensors not functioning properly. “Nothing new, Sir.” 

“Seven?” 

Seven was accessing the Astrometrics sensors from her bridge station. “No, Commander.” 

The pod was drifting toward the Hromi Cluster. In another ten minutes it would be in the cluster and their chances of finding it would be virtually zero. 

“From the cluster?” 

“Nothing clear, Sir.” 

“Yellow alert.” Chakotay had listened to Captain White’s report on the pirates operating out of the cluster. He wasn’t going to take any chances with them or who was ever in the pod. “Tuvok, have the transporter room ready to beam the occupants directly to sickbay. Have a security team standing by as well.” 

“Yes, Commander.” Tuvok nodded, agreeing with the first officer’s orders. He would have done it any way. He was pleased that Chakotay had still been able to function relatively normally after the ship blew up in front of them with the probable loss of the captain. 

The minutes ticked by. The small pod still wasn’t visible but the cluster now filled the view screen. 

Chakotay gripped his fingers tightly as he waited. If he could will the ship to go faster, he would have. “Time to transporter range?” 

“One minute, Sir.” 

Chakotay leaned forward when he could finally see the grey pod against the background of the Hromi Cluster. “Magnify.” 

“Aye, Sir.” 

The view of the escape pod came on to the main view screen. Chakotay wondered if anyone could survive in the pod. It was so badly damaged. The engine was hanging on to the main body just by a few conduits; it had almost been sheared off. 

Seven watched the pod come into view. She quickly characterised the damage and the probability of surviving such damage. It was low but then if Captain Janeway was in the pod, she was a resourceful individual and could survive. 

A moving shimmer of light distracted Seven. It was just out of the normal visual range for a human but her ocular implant improved her visual acuity allowing her to detect the slight shift in the light. The moving light drifted passed the pod, behind it and kept going. Seven checked the scans for anomalies. Nothing appeared on the sensors but they were still not functioning to the full potential. She started to inform the first officer but was interrupted. “Commander …” 

“Commander, I’m detected a faint life sign and one deceased humanoid body.” Harry’s interrupted. He checked the board a second time to make sure he was reading the results correctly. The smile on his face grew and tears of relief welled in his eyes. “It’s human. It’s the captain, Sir. She’s alive. The body is Klingon.” 

“Transporter room one, beam the captain to sickbay.” Chakotay stood up quickly, heading for the upper command deck. His heart pounded. Kathryn was alive. He would see her again. He wanted to bolt for sickbay right then and there but his duty and training stopped him. It wasn’t finished yet. 

The relief on the bridge was immediately felt. 

Chakotay said a silent prayer of thanks to the Spirits. Afterwards, he looked around the bridge and could see all the people sitting up straighter with smiles on their faces again. A few tried to wipe away the tears of joy. The cool professional detachment the crew had shown in the Delta Quadrant and that they’d continued in the face of the tragedy of losing their captain was heartening. Chakotay was so proud to be a part of this crew. 

_“Rollins to the bridge. Transport complete, Sir.”_

“Thank you, Lieutenant.” 

Seven was relieved too but when she looked at the view screen, the mysterious shimmer had returned but this time it was hovering just behind and the left of the pad. This wasn’t a natural phenomenon. “Commander …” 

Before Seven could inform Chakotay, the sensors detected a massive energy build up. A ship de-cloaked, it was the same size as Voyager, but with the three phaser banks alone on its bow, it clearly outgunned Voyager. 

Tuvok reacted quickly, raising shields and arming the phasers and torpedoes. 

“Battle stations!” Chakotay swore to himself as he rushed back to the command deck. The red alert lights flashed and the warning alarms blared. “Tuvok?” 

“Shields up and weapons ready. It’s a Klingon ship, unknown class.” 

“Harry?” 

“The sensors can’t penetrate the hull.” 

“Seven?” 

“It did not appear on the Astrometric sensors. I had detected a visual spectral disturbance using my Borg implant as we arrived. It moved behind the pod and after we had transported the captain, it returned.” 

“Tom, get ready with evasive manoeuvre, pattern delta five.” 

“Ready with evasive pattern delta five, Sir.” 

A menacing green beam shot out of the Klingon ship. 

“Sir, we are being scanned.” 

“Modulate the shields!” 

“No effect.” 

The pod disappeared as the Klingon ship beamed it onto their ship. 

“Commander, the Klingons have just beamed the pod on to their ship and something from Captain Janeway’s quarters.” 

“What was it?” 

“A Klingon book.” Harry’s comm. panel beeped. “Incoming message, Sir.” 

“On screen, Harry.” Chakotay had no idea why the Klingons wanted the pod and a book; part of him couldn’t care less at this stage. 

_“I am Captain Amar. Commander, the Protectors of the Sword will guard the qIrom taj now. You may leave.”_

Chakotay knew that the Klingon wasn’t asking him to depart. He was ordering them to go and not to interfere. 

_“As the Sacred Scrolls foretold, the prophecy has been fulfilled. The qIrom taj has been returned. Captain Janeway’s, Denel’s and the other’s sacrifices will not be forgotten. Sto-Vo-Kor awaits those honoured warriors. It is over. Amar out.”_

Chakotay shook his head. He didn’t know who the Protectors of the Sword were or what the prophecy was but what worried him was his use of the word sacrifice? What did he mean? Dread started to rise up in his chest. He spoke as if Kathryn was dead. 

The Klingon ship re-cloaked and disappeared. 

“Seven?” 

“I can no longer see the ship, Commander.” 

“Stand down red alert.” To Chakotay, the crisis had passed. They couldn’t track the mysterious Klingon ship. It was over but they’d paid a high price for Toral’s mad quest for power. Tabor Nil had died when the ship blew up and Kathryn was in sickbay, her condition unknown. 

He knew that Starfleet would want seemingly endless reports on what had happened but he had a more pressing need. He needed to go to sickbay to find out about Kathryn. “Tom, resume a course for Earth, warp five. Tuvok, you have the bridge. I’m going to sickbay.” 

A chorus of ‘Aye, Commanders’ sounded as they replied. 

Chakotay strode in to the turbolift and headed for the sickbay. He shook his head, trying to clear the image of his Kathryn battered telling him to get the knife and then there was the damage to the escape pod. Would it possible for anyone to survive that? He tried to remain positive and not to think about it but it was very hard. 

He held his breath as he walked into sickbay. 

The doctor was standing by the biobed with his medical assistant, Tal Celes. The doctor’s voice was strained, asking for the cortical stimulator. 

Chakotay stopped dead in his tracks just inside the door. 

Cortical stimulator. 

Oh Spirits! Chakotay prayed. It was bad. It meant something was wrong with her brain. He threw his hand to his mouth, trying to stifle a sob. She had to make it. She couldn’t die when she’d gotten them all home. 

Silently he watched as the medic and the Bajoran worked feverously on Kathryn. Tal administered several hypo-sprays while the doctor adjusted the instruments helping Kathryn and continued to analyse the results on the biobed readout panel. 

After several minutes, Celes smiled and the Doctor relaxed. 

The Doctor had known that Commander Chakotay had entered sickbay but the captain had been hanging on to life by a thread. He was completely focused on her. She needed him to be. It had been touch and go, her multiple injuries and blood loss, especially her fractured skull, on top of oxygen deprivation had nearly killed her. 

The Doctor told Celes to put away the instruments then he walked toward the first officer. The medico knew that Chakotay didn’t want at detailed description of her injuries. “The captain will survive.” 

Chakotay looked at him blankly. He couldn’t quite believe it. 

“The captain sustained very serious injuries.” The Doctor repeated softly. “She is unconscious. I won’t know if there has been any permanent damage until she wakes up by herself but I am confident that she’ll make a full recovery.” 

Chakotay slowly released the breath he was holding in. He looked over the hologram’s shoulder to the biobed where Kathryn was lying. “Can I see her?” 

“Of course, Commander.” 

Chakotay slowly walked over to the biobed. His hand ran along its side, to steady his wobbly legs. Even though she’d been in sickbay, lying on a biobed many times before, it never got any easier. In fact, he thought it got worse each time because one day she’d run out of the nine lives she’d been using since they met seven years ago and the Doctor wouldn’t be able to save her and she’d be lost to him. 

Kathryn was covered in a medical blanket but her shoulders were bare. There were several faint bruises on her face and both shoulders but other than that she looked fine, peacefully sleeping. A cortical monitor was attached to the side her neck, flashing away, sending data to the biobed, keeping a check on her condition. 

“Oh Kathryn,” he whispered as he took her hand in his. His other hand gently pushed a wayward strand of her auburn hair from her forehead so he could kiss her brow. Tears welled up in his eyes, a mixture of relief that she’d survive and sadness of what might have happened if they hadn’t found the pod in time. 

Celes watched as Chakotay stood by the captain, tenderly holding her hand. From past experience, she knew that he wouldn’t leave her side until she was out of danger. Celes carried a stool over to the first officer to sit on. One day she hoped that she would find a love like the two senior officers shared. “Commander,” she said softly, indicating for him to sit. 

“Thank you, Celes.” Chakotay sat down, still holding her hand, whispering his love for her, and hoping that she’d hear his pleas for her to come back to him. He then began his normal vigil of staying with her until the Doctor ordered him to bed or duty called. 


	9. Chapter 9

In the two days since Kathryn had been found, Chakotay had only left her side four times. They were to get a few hours sleep and something to eat. Tuvok had been handling the ship and Starfleet for which he was eternally grateful. He really couldn’t care less about Starfleet at the moment. The only thing on his mind was the still unconscious captain and love of his life lying in sickbay.

The Doctor hadn’t wanted to rouse the captain up, preferring to let her wake up by herself, allowing her body to rest and heal itself; such was the level of the trauma she’d suffered.

He’d been sitting for an hour, holding her hand, his fingers tenderly running up and down hers, as he read the latest ship’s status report. Voyager was a day away from Earth, their goal for seven long hard years. He’d even slowed the ship down from warp five to warp four in the hope that Kathryn would be there, in her rightful place, in her command chair, to see her home come into view.

Kathryn slowly became out of the grey fog of a long deep sleep. She lay still as she slowly became aware of herself. It was a little disorientating as she normally slept lightly and was alert and aware very quickly.

The Doctor had been in his office, finishing up his report for Starfleet Medical regarding the health of the crew when the cortical monitor alerted him to a change to the captain’s condition. He saved the report and then walked toward the biobed.

Chakotay was focused on the report but stopped suddenly when Kathryn groaned and moved her hand. His sighed with relief as she was waking up but the worry wasn’t over yet.

The Doctor stood over the other side of the biobed, tricorder in hand, scanning the captain as she slowly regained consciousness.

“Kathryn, come on. Wake up.” Chakotay dropped the padd and bent closer, urging her on.

Kathryn could feel a warm hand holding hers. It had to be Chakotay. She’d loved the feeling of his large hands covering hers, stroking them. She felt him squeeze them and he was talking to her but she still wasn’t quite able to break through the fog to understand what he was saying.

Another hand was on her shoulder, it wasn’t warm like Chakotay’s hand but neutral. It had to be the Doctor’s, she thought. It was slowly becoming clearer now. She was in sickbay, on Voyager. She ran a quick self diagnostic on herself, finding out if she could wiggle all her toes and fingers and sighed in relief when she could. She blinked her eyes open and groaned again, her voice croaky even to her. As her vision cleared, she looked up at a smiling Doctor and then to Chakotay.

The Doctor continued to scan her with the tricorder. “How do you feel, Captain.”

“I … feel … fine.” It was her standard response but she added because she felt strange, her mind was a bit vague. “You tell me?”

“We will start with the basics. What is your name?” The Doctor then ran the captain through a barrage of tests, finding out if there had been any lasting effects from her injuries. All the while Chakotay stood on the other side, just watching her. After a while, he realised that she was indeed okay albeit tired. The Doctor left them to collate the results and plan any further treatment.

“Chakotay, the ship?”

“Voyager is fine. We’re a day away from Earth. The crew have been working overtime to get ship ready for inspection.” Chakotay filled her in on the details of everything that happened since she was beamed off Voyager until the Doctor came back.

“Captain, I’d like to keep you here for several more hours to monitor your recovery.” The Doctor was expecting a fight but that didn’t eventuate.

Any other time Kathryn may have fought to released, at least to their quarters but she knew she was still weak and very tired. “All right, Doctor.”

“I’ll be right back.” The Doctor took off the cortical monitor and went to put it away.

Chakotay stroked her cheek. “Kathryn, I love you. I thought I’d lost you when that ship blew …”

“I know. It must’ve been horrible.” She kissed his fingers as they ran across her lips. “I love you.”

Chakotay watched as she tried unsuccessfully to stifle a yawn which only made him yawn. They were both very tired.

“Go to sleep, Commander.” Kathryn said in her most authoritative tone that she could muster. She knew that he’d been spending a lot of time watching her just as she’d had done if he’d been hurt. They both needed the rest.

“Aye, Captain.”

Kathryn watched as Chakotay left the sickbay. Her eyes were very heavy and as soon as she closed them she fell asleep.

* * *

“Captain on the bridge!” Harry called out as soon as he saw Janeway step out off the turbo lift.

Filled with pride, Kathryn smiled as all her officers were standing to attention by their stations. “As you were.”

All the bridge crew returned their focus to their stations as Kathryn gingerly made her way down to the command deck, using the railing for support. She should have still been in sickbay but there was absolutely no way she was going to miss this.

She timed her appearance well. They’d just passed Mars and were heading for Earth. She wanted to get her first glimpse of her home planet for seven long years.

Still standing, Chakotay smiled as his captain sat down in her command chair then he sat next to her and watched the screen too. Although concerned that she discharged herself early, he wasn’t going to deny her this. Nobody would. She’d fought seven long years for this moment. All the hardship, battles, injuries, deaths disappeared as the small beautiful blue and white dot grew ever larger on the view screen.

Smiling, Kathryn reached across and took Chakotay’s hand in hers. They’d done it together. And this was only the start of their journey together.

The end or …


End file.
